Governmental discrimination

Governmental discrimination

In May of 1996, Grant hit back at Tory proposals for the elderly to purchase insurance for long term care in the realm of around £10,000. Grant argued that for many Black elderly, this would only encourage them to return to the Caribbean where such insurance was much more affordable. This proposal of course, was not only significant for the impact it would have on the Black elderly as Grant highlighted, but it was also indicative of efforts to privatise and shrink services within the National Health Service, cutting it down to ‘core’ services. In this press statement from 1996, Grant made a point which he continually made throughout his career, on the marriage between racial and class-based systemic discrimination seen by the economic decisions of a then-Tory run British government. In the November 1996 budget, Grant argued, the Tories had announced tax cuts for the ‘ordinary family’, although for those 30% lowest paid in Britain, they were not affected by tax cuts but would suffer from heightened prescription costs, council tax increases and cuts to inner city council services.