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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Patrick Butler Social policy editor

Lib Dems to promise £1.5bn reform of carer’s allowance including debt amnesty

Ed Davey campaigns in Oxfordshire: he stands in front of a group of people waving bright orange placards that read Liberal Democrats: winning here. He wears a dark jumper over a white shirt and looks animated, with his hands raised.
Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: ‘Caring is why I got into politics.’ Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

The Liberal Democrats will commit to a £1.5bn overhaul of carer’s allowance, including a £20-a-week boost for more than 1 million people who devote their lives to looking after frail, ill and disabled loved ones, in their general election manifesto.

An ongoing Guardian investigation has revealed that tens of thousands of unpaid carers have been forced by the government to pay back huge sums – and in some cases have faced criminal prosecution – for minor and accidental breaches of carer’s allowance earnings rules.

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