Charity launches twitter campaign to get new care laws in the Queen's speech

Age UK has launched a twitter campaign in a bid to get new legislation on care in the Queen’s Speech.

The Queen’s Speech will take place tomorrow, when the Government sets out its legislative programme for the forthcoming session of Parliament.

Age UK is concerned the Government could 'kick reform into the long grass', so it is calling for people to tweet about the need for new care laws with the hashtag #CareCantWait to @Number10gov – the Prime Minister’s twitter feed.

“We want social care to trend on Twitter again so the Government cannot ignore this important issue. If we can get this trending nationally, we can show that the Government cannot afford to leave social care out of their plans for the year,” said a spokeswoman for the charity.

She added: “If the Government is serious about reforming the care system so that it works for those people who rely on it, the Queen’s Speech must include new legislation on care.

Otherwise, older and disabled people will have to wait another 18 months before legal change can be made.”

Age UK has been doing its utmost to put pressure on the Government to make urgent reforms of the social care system.

Over 125,000 people recently signed its petition calling for reform. More than 1,000 travelled to Parliament in March to lobby their MPs and more than 2,500 tweets were sent in an Age UK Twobby on the same day as the lobby of Parliament, calling for reform of the system.