Elderly Care and Overseas Aid

Well it had to happen sooner or later but it has recently been announced that the UK is funding elderly care in China.

China is a country with a nuclear industry, a space industry and one of the largest economies in the world and yet we are funding the care of their elderly. And what is  happening to our care system. It’s falling apart at the seams because we are not funding it in sufficient depth because we haven’t got enough cash. It makes you laugh doesn’t it, giving money away to old people in China but not  giving our old people some of the money they need and they deserve. And remember that this is money they have already paid into the system in the form of tax.

My mother (fortunately) exists on 2 pensions, one from my father’s employer and one from the state and she has to pay tax on this income. I tell her not to worry though as she should be happy knowing that the tax she pays is being sent overseas to look after the elderly in China. She cannot understand this and neither can I. I don’t really tell her that as she would not understand why but then again, I don’t understand why it happens either.

Think about it. Every single penny we send overseas is borrowed money. We are borrowing billions of pounds to give the money away and don’t forget there is interest to add on top of that. I could not run my house and life like that but the Government is allowed to do it and call it aid. Can I have some please, and I bet there are a lot more people out there who would say the same.

A lot of you may well say it isn’t borrowed money and we should be generous as we can afford it as a country. Well try telling that to old people who are having to sell their homes to pay for care in old age.

I would like to ask for a politician to come and explain to my mother why she pays tax on her pension for it to be sent abroad to pay for all sorts of things including the millions of pounds they were going to give to an all-female African pop group. Then again, they would find that easy as politicians dont spend their own money. They spend ours. Any money of their own they do spend, they seem to claim back on expenses such as the one a while since where some MP claimed back the bus fare for attending a war memorial service. I am probably wrong here. It would have been a taxi fare. MP’s dont know what buses are like.

My mother is a woman who has scrimped and saved and done without all her life to make sure she had some saving for her retirement and now that she needs financial help she cannot get it as she has savings.  As my mother sees it her money is being taken from her and sent abroad to fund China’s elderly and she cannot understand why. Neither can I.