Keir Starmer meets King Charles for first time since launch of Epstein recordsdata | EUROtoday

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his spouse, Lady Victoria Starmer, attended a particular reception at Windsor Castle on Wednesday evening, becoming a member of the King and Queen to honour carers throughout the UK.

The royal couple, alongside the Starmers, met with each paid and unpaid carers, in addition to representatives from numerous charities, on the historic Berkshire residence.

In a printed message addressed to his visitors, King Charles praised the tens of millions of people devoted to taking care of family members nationwide.

He additionally acknowledged the estimated 1.6 million folks employed throughout the grownup social care sector.

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“My wife and I are delighted to welcome you here this evening as we celebrate and give thanks to those remarkable individuals who dedicate their lives to the care of others,” the King’s message learn.

“Across the United Kingdom today, there are some five million people providing unpaid care to a loved one,” he added.

“That is one in every 10 adults who, alongside the demands of their own lives, have taken upon their shoulders the sacred and selfless responsibility of caring for another human being.

“They do so not for recognition nor reward, but because their hearts compel them to.

“Alongside these wonderfully altruistic individuals stand the estimated 1.6 million professionals who work in social care – the nurses, care workers, support staff and countless others who have chosen to make compassion their vocation.

“Together, these two great pillars of care – and those charities and organisations which support them – form the foundation upon which so many families and society itself depends.”

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Charles stated he has been “privileged” to fulfill carers and people concerned with the care sector all through his life, including he has felt “moved, time and again, by the resilience of those who give so much of themselves while asking for so little in return”.

The King’s message additionally touched on the challenges confronted by carers, together with isolation, exhaustion, and monetary pressure.

“We owe it to them not merely to offer our thanks, but our practical support,” he wrote.

“This is particularly true for those children and young people who shoulder responsibilities that would test the strongest among us,” the King added.

“There are hundreds of thousands of them across this nation, some as young as five years old, helping to care for parents, siblings or grandparents.

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“They prepare meals, administer medication, provide emotional support and manage household chores, all while trying to navigate the ordinary challenges of growing up.

“While every carer deserves our respect, these young people merit our most profound admiration.

“It is beholden on us to ensure that their selflessness does not come at the cost of their own childhood, their education or their dreams.”

As many as one in 5 youngsters within the UK could also be younger carers, in accordance with an estimate by youngsters’s charity Barnardo’s.

The King additionally addressed a message to these being cared for throughout the nation.

“As for those who receive care, I particularly want to say this: you are not and you will never be a burden,” Charles’s message learn.

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“The care you require and receive is not a choice you can make, nor an imposition on others; it is in fact an expression of their devotion.”

There are 5.8 million unpaid carers within the UK, with 29 per cent offering greater than 50 hours of care every week and girls making up 59% of the unpaid carer inhabitants, in accordance with the 2021 Census.

The reception on Wednesday marked the primary time Sir Keir and the King have been seen collectively for the reason that US authorities’ latest dump of tens of millions of paperwork related to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Both Charles and Sir Keir have been coping with the fallout from the scandal, with the King expressing “profound concern” on Monday at allegations that his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential studies from his position because the UK’s commerce envoy with intercourse offender Epstein.

Thames Valley Police beforehand confirmed it’s assessing the claims.

The disaster additionally led to 2 departures from Downing Street, a name from the Scottish Labour chief for Sir Keir to resign, and reignited the scandal surrounding Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment because the UK ambassador to the US regardless of his relationship with Epstein.