Andy Burnham has challenged his opponents to join him in putting aside political point-scoring to find a solution to England’s social care crisis.
The new Labour prime minister is set to hold a summit in Downing Street on Wednesday with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey to begin the process of thrashing out a way to deliver social care before it collapses the NHS.
Ahead of a speech he is set to deliver at a care home in north London on Wednesday morning, Mr Burnham said: “Last week I said we needed a different kind of politics: problem-solving, not point-scoring. Nowhere is that more urgent than social care.
“For decades, governments have kicked this issue down the road because they’ve seen it as too risky, too difficult, and too complicated.
“Politicians might have different views but I’m serious about fixing this issue and to do that, we have to find common ground and listen to others to find a way forward.
“It’s time to draw a line under people playing politics when the human cost of that means carers struggling, families paying the price and our NHS buckling under the strain.”
However, the initiative comes amid growing concerns about the state of the economy and the government’s ability to pay for Mr Burnham’s initiatives.
Already there are major questions about how he will fund £2bn of commitments on removing VAT of energy bills, capping bus fares at £2 and reducing business rates of pubs and clubs by 20 per cent.
Added to that, a major think tank is set to warn that inflation will hit almost 4 per cent next year and the government’s capacity to borrow has maxed out meaning everything will need to be funded through tax rises and spending cuts.
This will hit defence in particular, where Mr Burnham will need to find between £5bn and £18bn to meet the UK’s commitments and it has been suggested wants to issue war bonds, another form of borrowing to fund the gap.
Ahead of the summit on Wednesday Sir Ed, who has ensured that the Lib Dems have prioritised demanding solutions to the care crisis, has said his party is willing to work with Mr Burnham. Ms Badenoch has also offered to work with Mr Burnham, but warned she will not support new tax rises to fund it.
In 2009, when Mr Burnham was health secretary, he tried to find a common solution on care with a levy on assets when people died. But the Tories turned against him and accused him of trying to create a “death tax”.
Mr Burnham has not invited Reform UK to take part in the talks, even though they had been leading the polls for 15 months until Labour passed them this week.
However, Reform launched a preemptive attack, accusing Mr Burnham of wanting to revive his “death tax” plan, a claim that was immediately denied by Downing Street.
In a bid, though, to reach across the political divide, Mr Burnham said: “This comes down to a choice. We can carry on passing the problem to the next generation, or we can face it head on and work together to build a care system that gives people dignity, security and the support they deserve.
“This is about bringing back hope that we can finally fix the difficult issues that have been ignored for too long, and making Britain believe again.
“That's why I’m making this choice and I'm prepared to put everything I've got behind it.”
Visiting a care home on Wednesday, the prime minister will say he is making the choice to fix the broken social care system by finding common ground across party lines to tackle the big issues.
He will attempt to draw a line under decades of decline and a refusal to tackle these problems head-on, calling on all political parties to focus on solving problems and finding solutions together.
He will reiterate the need for a new kind of politics that puts differences aside in order to come together and face up to the challenges that Westminster has left unaddressed for too long.
He will be joined by the new health secretary Yvette Cooper and Baroness Louise Casey, who is leading the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care, which will draw up recommendations to deliver a National Care Service.
Baroness Casey will also launch the Big Conversation on Care, which will give the public their chance to share their views and help shape the future of adult social care in England so that it is designed for the people it is there to serve.
It will be open to everyone through a new online platform, starting off the conversation by asking people about the values and principles we should all expect from a care system.
Baroness Casey said: “For too long, we have been stuck in the same cycle: crisis, promises of reform, another review, and then retreat, while the people who need care, and their families, bear the brunt.
“Fixing adult social care is about far more than money. People are already paying for failure through council tax, pressure on the NHS, their savings, giving up work, and the forced sale of their homes. The choice is whether we keep putting money into a system that is unfair, unpredictable and broken, or have an honest conversation about how to build something better.
“That is why we need a public conversation on care that tackles the tough questions. It’s only by facing up to this problem together that we can fix social care once and for all.”
Responding, Tory shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew said: “Andy Burnham and Labour cannot rely on vague promises of reform without a clear plan for implementation and detail on what will happen when.
“The Conservatives are ready to work with Labour on measures that improve social care provided they are not reliant on yet more tax rises and borrowing.”
Sir Ed said: “There have been 22 failed attempts at reforming social care since 1997. To see the 23rd effort work, we need to do things differently.
"My party has been pushing for cross-party talks on care for years, because it is the only way to build a solution that actually works. For carers and for our country, nothing matters more, so I look forward to meeting the prime minister to begin these talks.”
