UK government dementia adviser resigns over prosecutions of carers

Timpson said the DWP’s approach to carer’s allowance was in breach of its own policy towards protecting vulnerable benefit claimants. Photograph: Pixel Youth movement/Alamy

One of Rishi Sunak’s dementia advisers has resigned over the government’s approach towards unpaid carers, describing the prosecutions of vulnerable people as “beyond the pale”.

Johnny Timpson, who advised No 10 on its dementia strategy, said he wanted to “take a stand” after the Guardian revealed that tens of thousands of unpaid carers were being fined huge sums and in some cases prosecuted for minor infringements of earnings rules.