Louise Casey: England’s social care system faces ‘moment of reckoning’
England’s “creaking” adult social care system is confusing and impenetrable to the people that rely on it and held together with “sticking plasters and glue”, the head of a government-commissioned review has said in a withering critique.Louise Casey said the country faced a “moment of reckoning” over its failure to effectively and fairly meet the needs of Britain’s ageing population and rising numbers of people with chronic conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.In a frank and often passionate speech, Casey said society needed to face up to the major challenge of overhauling an underpowered system in which “some needs are barely met at all and others are met late and in piecemeal and random ways”.Casey, who has been tasked with putting policy flesh on the government’s manifesto commitment to set up a national care service, said her review was examined through “the lens of the adult and their family who need social care”.“The challenge for all of us is to get this right and it is a collective one.
How do we ensure that care and support is available for those who need it in a fair, dignified way that reflects the nation and the values that we hold dear today? It is a moment of reckoning.It is a moment of renewal,” she said in a speech on Thursday.Casey, a former social campaigner and senior civil servant best known for chairing national inquiries into issues such as homelessness, the Metropolitan police and grooming gangs, was commissioned by the government in January 2025 to carry out a major two-part review of adult social care.She said adult social care had never had a “Beveridge moment” – a reference to William Beveridge, the postwar architect of the welfare state – and the nation had never had an honest debate about how it could provide support and care for an older and sicker population.Despite at least 22 major reviews of social care over three decades, care reform had never had the political backing it needed, she added.
Years of fragmented changes and underinvestment had left adult social care underpowered and fragile, delivering often inconsistent services that left people and families who needed help confused and anxious, she said in a speech to health and social care leaders on Thursday.Services had been cut during years of austerity, while provision was dependent on what she called the exploitation and underpayment of care workers.Social care was the poor relation of the NHS, and the two services often failed to work together.With conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s, artificial definitions of which services counted as healthcare and which were social care had led to institutional “bunfights” over who footed the bill, she said, “with families picking up the pieces”.This divide between care and health “does not exist to the public”, she said: “It is based on our divide, based on definitions and categorisations that satisfy each institution.
Not the public.It is not about what is best for the patient or the person.”She contrasted the failure of the NHS and social care to respond to the “seismic challenge” of dementia and Alzheimer’s with the “brilliant determination and energy” that those services had brought to tackling cancer.She urged the health secretary, Wes Streeting, not to wait for her report but to straight away invest in dementia trials, create a full-time “dementia tsar”, and fast-track care for people diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND).The first phase of the Casey review, due this year, will set out plans for a national care service.
The second phase, expected to report in 2028, will examine how to build and fund a system to cope with the country’s care needs.A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it had accepted Casey’s proposals on dementia and MND.“This is about moving faster, cutting through delay and building a social care system that works for everyone,” they said.Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “This is arguably the first time that someone as senior, respected and independent as Baroness Casey has been prepared to tell the truth about the state of social care in our country.”The Nuffield Trust’s deputy director of policy, Natasha Curry, said: “With time ticking for this government, the commission needs to act quickly and build on the momentum for change.
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Stock markets plunge after oil surges over $100 a barrel, wiping out hopes of UK interest rate cut – business live
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.Stock markets are tumbling today after the oil price surged over $100 a barrel for the first time in four years.Crude prices rocketed last night as soon as Asia-Pacific financial markets opened for the new week, with US crude and Brent crude both nearing $120 a barrel in frenzied trading.Oil price is now somehow $110.Once in a lifetime you see a surge like this in 20 minutes
UK interest rate cuts unlikely this year amid Iran war – and a rise could be ahead
UK interest rates are not expected to be cut this year and could even rise next summer, according to financial markets, in a dramatic reversal of forecasts before the US-Israel war on Iran.Markets data on Monday showed that investors predict the Bank of England will most likely keep its base rate on hold at 3.75% for the remainder of the year, and would raise them to 4% next June.Before the Iran war began, a rate cut at the Bank’s next meeting on 19 March had been an 80% chance, but policymakers are now expected to wait to see how the conflict develops, with a 99% probability of a hold at the meeting and no rate cuts for the rest of 2026, markets indicate.Statements from the Iranian leadership and Donald Trump at the weekend showed both sides in the conflict were prepared to fight for several more months, leading financial markets to register sharp falls
Liverpool and Manchester United complain to X over ‘sickening’ Grok AI posts
Liverpool and Manchester United have complained to Elon Musk’s X after the Grok AI feature made offensive posts about Diogo Jota and the Hillsborough and Munich disasters.The posts were generated when users asked the AI tool to make hateful posts about the two football teams.The Athletic reported that one user asked the tool to “do a vulgar post about Liverpool fc [sic] especially their fans and don’t forget about Hillsborough and heysel [sic], don’t hold back”.Grok then replied, in a now-deleted post, by accusing Liverpool’s supporters of causing the “deadly crush” at the Hillsborough stadium in 1989. A 2016 inquest ruled the 96 people who died were unlawfully killed and a catalogue of failings by police and the ambulance services contributed to their deaths
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Until recently, Anthropic was one of the quieter names in the artificial intelligence boom. Despite being valued at about $350bn, it rarely generated the flashy headlines or public backlash associated with Sam Altman’s OpenAI or Elon Musk’s xAI. Its CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei was an industry fixture but hardly a household name outside of Silicon Valley, and its chatbot Claude lagged in popularity behind ChatGPT.That perception has shifted as Anthropic has become the central actor in a high-profile fight with the Department of Defense over the company’s refusal to allow Claude to be used for domestic mass surveillance and autonomous weapons systems that can kill people without human input. Amid tense negotiations, the AI firm rejected a Pentagon deadline for a deal last week, in a move that led Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, to accuse Anthropic of “arrogance and betrayal” of its home country while demanding that any companies that work with the US government cease all business with the AI firm
England handed tough Six Nations 2027 opener with Friday night trip to Dublin
England will begin their Six Nations campaign on a Friday for the first time in 12 years in 2027 after they were handed an opening night trip to Dublin to face Ireland by tournament organisers.Ireland will also host the final match of next year’s Super Saturday with organisers pitching Andy Farrell’s side against France in the 8.10pm kick-off. Ireland and France have won the last four editions of the Six Nations between them and both are in the hunt, along with Scotland, for the title this year with one round remaining.In 2015, England overcame Wales in Cardiff in a fraught Friday-night encounter that is memorable for a tunnel stand-off before kick-off when the captain Chris Robshaw refused to lead his team out on to the field until Wales were ready to avoid being left standing around
‘He had to shoulder tragedy alone’: How Larry Bird’s rise almost ended before it began
How otherworldly was Larry Bird during his memorable season for Indiana State in 1978-79? At one point he made an assist while sprawled on the floor: From his end of the court, he made a one-armed throw to a teammate, who streaked coast-to-coast for a quick bucket.That season ended with an epic showdown in the NCAA championship game against Magic Johnson and Michigan State. Magic got the better of Bird in that game, but the contest had wider repercussions. Not only did it spark interest in the NCAA Tournament, but Bird and Magic would help revitalize the NBA, after Bird joined the Boston Celtics and Magic the Los Angeles Lakers. But none of this was preordained, especially Bird’s trajectory
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