SIR TERRY PRATCHETT, the bestselling author who is suffering from dementia, has accused David Cameron of failing in his pledge to tackle the crisis caused by the disease.

In an article for The Sunday Times the acclaimed author of the Discworld series, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2007, says he fears the prime minister’s promise to improve life for dementia patients and fund research into drugs to treat the condition may prove to be no more than a “podium promise for the press”.

“David Cameron made a solemn pledge one year ago,” he writes. “In what I hoped wouldn’t simply be a podium promise for the press, he announced intentions to double money spent on dementia research and to tackle the ‘crisis’ the condition