Liberal Democrats Read the Guardian’s view of Ed Davey’s new book, ‘Why I Care’




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Dear John,

Since becoming leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey has made it his
mission to be a voice for carers.

Ed’s book is already sparking a conversation - with many people recognising
the urgency of its message. Now the Guardian editorial team have backed Ed’s
mission to give carers the recognition they deserve.



Read the Guardian View ➜
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Or read it below:





The Guardian view on Ed Davey’s mission: build politics around care. If not,
cruelty will define it



Did last week mark a sea change in British politics? For many, it did. The
government’s U-turn on winter fuel payments signalled a welcome retreat. But
the deeper shift may lie in the terrain that ministers are now forced to fight
on: cuts hitting disabled people and their families.

In the Commons, Sir Ed Davey raised the case of Ginny, a carer for her
husband with myotonic dystrophy. He described the human burden of
responsibility, exhaustion and love. Under the government’s planned cuts, he
warned, her family stands to lose £12,000 a year. The prime minister replied
with managerial platitudes. Sir Ed, by contrast, spoke of duty, dignity and the
very real consequences of policy.



Order 'Why I Care' ➜ <[link removed]>



The Liberal Democrat leader isn’t trading in ideology; he’s drawing a line
based on human decency. Caring has been a constant theme of his life, even more
than politics.

When he was a teenager, Sir Ed spent three years looking after his mother who
died of bone cancer. Later he helped care for the grandmother who brought him
up. Every morning at 6am, Sir Ed wakes up his severely disabled 17-year-old
son, John, then cleans his teeth, bathes him and gives him his morning massage.

In his new book, Why I Care, he frames this both as an act of love and a
foundational political insight.



Order 'Why I Care' ➜ <[link removed]>



The Lib Dem leader wants to rewrite British politics – not with the language
of crisis, but that of care. In a Westminster hooked on “tough choices” and
resistant to compassion in policy, he offers something rare – moral clarity
rooted in lived experience. He understands that care is not a luxury to be
considered after the economy is “fixed”. It is, he says, the core economy.

His new book is both memoir and manifesto, containing a call to abandon
parliamentary introspection and recentre politics around mutual support.



Order 'Why I Care' ➜ <[link removed]>



Critics might call it earnest. Cynics may spy sentiment in search of power.
The Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, says Lib Dems are just “good at fixing church
roofs”. But Sir Ed leans in. His paddle‑boarding, Zumba-thrusting 2024 election
campaign delivered his party’s best result in a century, winning 72 seats – 60
from the Conservatives. The latest YouGov polling has his party ahead of the
Tories and snapping at Labour’s heels.



Order 'Why I Care' ➜ <[link removed]>



Rooted in real life and years helping constituents through a broken system,
his authority on care is hard-won. The UK has 6 million unpaid carers – 1.7
million work more than 50 hours a week. The NHS would collapse without them.
Yet many carers are met not with help, but hurdles – denied adequate respite
and treated as invisible.

This paper’s investigation into the scandal over carer’s allowance payments
revealed a brutal bureaucracy punishing vulnerable people. It’s not just
neglectful. It’s insulting.



Order 'Why I Care' ➜ <[link removed]>



Sir Ed’s proposal – to assign every family in need a named carer and social
worker – is modest, sensible and overdue.

He’s also had enough of the care reviews. Who can blame him? Since 1997,
there have been 25 commissions, inquiries and white papers. Now ministers want
Louise Casey to take three more years for a review into adult social care. He
says it’s enough to make you cry.

Sir Ed’s not point-scoring, just asking how family, community and state can
equitably share the load. And urging the government to get on with it – as
quietly and steadily as the carers it routinely ignores.



Order 'Why I Care' ➜ <[link removed]>





It’s time we shed more light on the lives of those who give so much, and show
the same compassion to carers as they show every day.

Thank you for your support.

Best wishes,




Liberal Democrats


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