AT last, the Government is on the verge of launching its social care plans. The funding of care for the elderly and disabled has been hanging over the country for a decade or more, and while we should note that the plans have been a very long time coming – Boris Johnson promised details nearly two years ago, and Theresa May set out a bodged set of proposals in 2017 – we should also say that the Government is brave to begin to tackle it.

The problems are immense, made more difficult by the inherent regional inequalities whereby spending on care for a working aged disabled person is more than £9,000 less in the North East than it is in the east of England. What was that about levelling up?

The Government is apparently going to implement some form of tax rises. This will break its manifesto pledges, and further fuel the distrust of politicians, but equally most people know you can’t magic up money out of nowhere to solve a problem. It has to come from somewhere.

And the fairest way is through Income Tax, which is paid by all ages according to their ability.

Raising that, though, is anathema to many Tory MPs, and so there will probably be a fiddle with National Insurance.

However, while money is a big issue, it isn’t the only one. Where are the carers going to come from? We are 45,000 short. You can’t magic them up just by raising taxes.