Jeremy Hunt vows tax breaks for 'granny flats' as Tory leadership fight continues
3 min read
Tory leadership contender Jeremy Hunt has vowed to shake up the tax system to encourage generations of families to "stick together more".
The Foreign Secretary - who is Boris Johnson's nearest rival for the Tory leadership after the first ballot of Conservative MPs this week - said he wanted to make it easier for people to build "granny flats" so they could support relatives in their old age.
The move came as rivals Michael Gove and Dominic Raab also unveiled their own pledges on community football and immigration in a bid to keep their campaigns alive.
Pointing to "unfinished business" on social care from his time as health secretary, Mr Hunt told the Mail on Sunday that the Conservatives needed to ensure that old people could live out their final years "with dignity and respect".
"We've got to tackle the problem at its heart and ask ourselves why countries like Italy and Spain spend less on social care than us, yet don't have a social care crisis when we do," he said.
"I think the reason is because their families stick together more and so one of the things I want to do is see if we can do more to encourage and support the 420,000 families in this country that live in three-generation households.
"Grandma and Grandpa can look after the kids but it's also fantastic for the kids, it's fantastic for the grandparents, so I want to see if we can introduce tax breaks for people who want to build granny flats or make adaptations to make it easier to have an older person living with them and send a strong signal that if you want to stick together as a family, the state will support you."
Mr Hunt's promise to offer tax breaks to families taking on caring duties for the elderly comes as the Conservative leadership contenders prepare for the second ballot of MPs in the race to succeed Theresa May.
The Foreign Secretary garnered the support of 43 MPs in the first round, coming in well behind frontrunner Boris Johnson on 114.
Michael Gove - who netted the backing of 30 MPs - meanwhile told the Mail on Sunday that he would seize assets from dormant bank accounts to make it easier for communities to take over local football teams.
According to the paper, the cash to help clubs would come from the Government's existing £1.2bn Dormant Assets scheme.
The Environment Secretary said: "These clubs don't just have glorious histories, they serve as a focus for the whole town."
Meanwhile Dominic Raab, who won the backing of 27 MPs in the first ballot, unveiled plans for an Australian-style points system to "substantially reduce" migration to the UK.
The former Brexit Secretary told the Sunday Times that the overhaul would see migrants awarded points based on their skills, education and career experience while taking account of "the pressure on public services and wages of uncontrolled immigration".
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