Them and us fishes, photo Suzanne Beishon

Them and us fishes, photo Suzanne Beishon   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Luxury retirement…

Super-rich pensioners will soon be able to move into a retirement home with a tunnel direct to Harrods.

The £200 million project in Kensington, west London, will include a 24-hour medical centre and parking for eight mobility scooters. Its 34 apartments are likely to cost north of £5 million a pop.

Developers are aiming at “silver hipsters” who prefer ultra-plush capital living to the more traditional Surrey mansion. Residents will be able to shop at Harrods without having to cross any roads. The tunnel previously connected the luxury department store to storage and staff accommodation.

A Harrods own-brand 300 gramme gift box of tea costs £110. A ‘champagne sabre’ – designed for slicing the top off the bottle – is £285. Or you could pick up a maroon crocodile-leather clutch bag for your autumn ensemble at just £18,000.

… care home cuts

Meanwhile, two fifths of retirement homes are substandard thanks to cuts.

Healthcare regulator CQC found a third of homes need improvement, and a further 7% are inadequate. Austerity means councils have cut the fees they pay to care providers. “You can’t provide quality for £2.16 an hour no matter who you are,” said a spokesman for private care trade body Care England.

This is no doubt true. Councils must reverse these cuts and fight to win the funds back from central government. But the money would surely go further if private firms weren’t splitting it between service and profit.

So the Socialist says we must also kick the privateers out of care. For fully funded, publicly owned, high-quality adult care for all, free at the point of use.