Cllr Dave Smithson said: "The present system is blatantly unfair.  It is indefensible that dementia sufferers are forced to pay for personal care such as help with washing and bathing which cancer patients in hospital get for free.

"Tony Blair said before the last General Election that he did not want to live in a country where people were forced to sell their homes to pay for their care.  He even set up a Royal Commission to look into this.  They recommended that personal care should be free, but the Government are refusing to make this happen.

"In Scotland, where the Liberal Democrats are part of the Government, the law is going to be changed from next year.  This shows the difference that the Liberal Democrats make in Government.

"But in England and Wales, Labour’s proposals mean the debt collector will still come calling on the frail and elderly.  A hundred thousand sick and elderly people have already lost their homes in order to pay for their care since Labour came to power."