Burnham Opens Cross-Party Talks on Fixing Social Care
Andy Burnham has invited the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to cross-party talks on reforming England’s ailing adult social-care system, casting it as a national problem that has defeated successive governments. Ministers pointedly declined to rule out funding the reforms through a new levy on inheritances — quickly dubbed a “death tax” by critics — keeping the thorny question of how to pay for it firmly open.
Social care has been the graveyard of political ambition for decades, with parties repeatedly failing to agree a lasting funding settlement for fear of the electoral cost. Mr Burnham, who championed a “National Care Service” before entering Downing Street, is betting that a cross-party approach can succeed where partisanship has failed — though the talks notably exclude Reform. The Conservatives signalled willingness to engage but set fiscal red lines, and any move towards an inheritance levy would be fiercely contested. With the money for reform far from settled, the politics are treacherous. Watch whether the talks hold and how ministers propose to pay.