Politicians from different parties offer up their ideas at election time, citizens vote for their preferred option, and a government is formed. That is how democracy is supposed to work. Sometimes it feels as if the British political system has never been more distant from this ideal.

From the Conservatives, we’ve had years of populism: the dishonest idea that Brexit was somehow the answer to all the longstanding structural challenges facing the UK. It didn’t deliver and they were punished accordingly. The Labour party, on the other hand, ran an election campaign designed to translate widespread disaffection with the Conservatives into the maximum number of votes by saying very little about what they would do about the pressing problems that would face them in government. It worked, but has left them hamstrung when it comes to the tough choices facing a country that is no longer a global economic powerhouse, and that is confronting the fiscal reality of an ageing population and a declining birthrate.

There is no clearer sign of that than what’s happening with social care, a system that has been in crisis for well over a decade. The case has long been clear: as Britain gets older, the demand for adult care services continues to increase. But, unlike with NHS services, many people must meet the costs themselves of the care they need as a result of diseases such as dementia; the state will support those who need care but only if they are on a low income and have assets of under £23,350. That state help is significantly underfunded, meaning that more and more people are being left to cope alone without the care they need, even if........

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