"A grotesque example of a bigger scandal"

I make no apology for regularly posting about the Tories' pursuit of an ideologically motivated policy of austerity. When its devastating consequences include what effectively constitutes unpaid child labour, the politicians behind it need to be called out as the despicably callous bastards that they are.

What's more, as the Guardian's Frances Ryan makes crystal clear, this already acute social care crisis will only be exacerbated by the government's post-Brexit immigration strategy, which has seen carers among those stigmatised as "unskilled". A staggering 122,000 positions in the sector already stand vacant, and that situation is only set to get worse, with families (and kids in particular) having to pick up the pieces and fill in the gaps.

As Ryan quite rightly laments, "When children are left to clear up the state's mess, the government has truly failed".