‘Fixing social care is private for Andy Burnham – and a second probability on unfinished enterprise’
Andy Burnham’s speech on social care was deeply personal.
Ditching his notes, he spoke for 30 minutes about his desire to fix the broken system that is causing misery for families, carers and the NHS.
His voice broke at the end, when he said he would face up to the challenge for millions of people, including his dad Roy who has Alzheimer’s.
Burnham, who is close to his parents, has spoken about his heartbreak that his father doesn’t know that he has become the Prime Minister.
His speech was fuelled by the frustration and anger of engaging with the system – but high praise for those working in it.
He said carers should be the “best paid in society not the worst”, and overseas workers should know they are appreciated.
The praise for foreign born workers who care for his dad is significant.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has come under fire for immigration reforms that would make it harder for people to settle in Britain, including care workers. His comments suggest there may be some wiggle room to help carers.
Prime Ministers don’t always speak this frankly. But this is Burnham’s style – politics is personal.
It’s also unfinished business for Burnham. As Health Secretary under Gordon Brown, he called for a national care service in 2009.
He tried to build cross-party consensus but the Tories branded the idea of taxing people’s estates after they died as a “death tax”. Labour was booted out of power the following year.
Since then, nothing has changed. Successive PMs tried and failed to reform social care. Theresa May was forced to drop plans to get people to pay more – dubbed a “dementia tax”. Boris Johnson claimed he had an “oven ready” plan and then kicked it down the road.
Keir Starmer made a start, commissioning Whitehall troubleshooter Baroness Louise Casey to look at it and promising cross-party talks – but little progress was made.
Now Burnham has a second chance.
He says he’s willing to stake his political capital on it. He’ll need to. It will take enormous energy and political skill to get it right.
Already, Reform is accusing him of bringing in a “death tax” and the right-wing papers are screaming about tax rises.
But social care cannot be ignored any longer. Our society is ageing and some 2million people in England have unmet care needs. The NHS desperately needs to be able to discharge patients safely into the community.
If Burnham wants to build a lasting legacy as a PM, he must fix this mess.
