Put the elderly first: politicians need to start coming up with solutions to the care crisis - and fast, says DAN HYDE

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Everyone knows someone whose life has been turned upside down by the care funding crisis.

Whether it's an elderly relative forced to sell their home to pay the exorbitant monthly fees or a wallet-busting 15 per cent increase in council tax bills in Surrey —there is no hiding place.

At the heart of the chaos is a big question for politicians and us all: just how important is it to look after our elderly and give them dignity in old age?

Time for some action: An £88 billion black hole will open up in the NHS budget in the next 50 years as our population ages and needs looking after

For me the answer is simple: it should be at the top of the list.

You will have read in the Mail about the terrible waste of our taxes on failed aid in struggling Third World countries and other Government vanity projects (the HS2 rail line and smart energy meters come to mind).

Yet even if the entire foreign aid budget was used to pay for elderly care in Britain, it wouldn't be enough to solve the crisis. About £12 billion of taxpayers' cash is sent abroad in a year.

Yet, an £88 billion black hole will open up in the NHS budget in the next 50 years as our population ages and needs looking after.

Councils around the country will need an extra £2.6 billion annually by 2020 for care. And that's just for the most basic state support.

In England, if you have more than £23,250 in assets — including your home — you have to pay your own care fees. 

It can cost £46,800 a year for a place in a good nursing home, leaving up to 21,000 a year selling their homes to pay the bills.

Only in Scotland is personal care — help with dressing and so on — and nursing care free to all.

If we're serious about looking after our elderly, we need a radical rethink of where our taxes go.

The Government could start with the £80 billion HS2 project. 

Do we need an extravagant 335-mile railway line running from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds when people like Diana Hodgkinson, who spent her only income on her husband John's care, are forced to live on the breadline?

Politicians need to start coming up with solutions — fast.

Bad call, BT

Every year our Wooden Spoon awards for rotten service give you a chance to make your voice heard. And believe me, the thousands who vote create quite a din for the firms who look after your cash.

When we tell firms they've made the shortlist, you can hear bosses' voices quiver down the phone.

Libby Barr (pictured above) who accepted BT's award on behalf of absent chief executive Gavin Patterson this year, wasn't joking when she told our reporter to hide the trophy up her sleeve at the company's headquarters.

But the reaction from the rest of the BT hierarchy was so disappointing. Just like the other times they won, they argued it wasn't a fair contest as BT has more customers than other firms.

Well, this just isn't true.

HM Revenue & Customs made the ten-strong shortlist and it answers to all Britain's taxpayers.

Vodafone, which came third, is comparable in size to BT, with 18 million customers in the UK.

We also explained it was crucial Mr Patterson answered our questions because only he can speak for faults with Openreach failing to fix phone lines and the poor service from call centres.

Again BT ignored us, leaving brave customer care boss Libby Barr to step up to the plate as Mr Patterson hobnobbed with the world's elite in Davos, Switzerland.

Ms Barr was thrown to the wolves. She couldn't answer many of our more specific questions — how could she when they were about problems she was not responsible for?

Just like some of its call centre staff, BT just won't listen to its customers.

The message seems loud and clear to me: get a grip of this awful service now or face a customer exodus.

Drinks problem

'Have you seen La La Land yet?' seems to be the question on everyone's lips at the moment.

If you haven't, the blockbuster Hollywood musical starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone is well worth watching.

As a misery guts who prefers gritty films without singalongs, even I can see why so many people love it.

But if you do venture to the cinema, beware the tricks they play with drink and snack prices.

Every time I go to my local Vue cinema I come out shaking my head at the rip-offs.

The time before last, a standard soft drink cost £3.79. For that you practically got a bucket of Coca-Cola — yet they still tried to flog the large size for 'only 20p more' at £3.99.

I'd brought my own drink, but out of interest I asked the sales assistant if any smaller options were available to buy.

It turned out you could get a 'junior' sized drink (normal sized to you and me) for £2.49.

I couldn't see the cheaper option on the tiny price list hidden on a back wall.

When I returned to see La La Land last weekend, the list showed not just that large and regular soft drink prices had been hiked 20p to £4.19 and £3.99 respectively, but that the junior size is now advertised with the other drinks... they've just hiked the price to £3.49. What a racket!

d.hyde@dailymail.co.uk