The SNP has attacked Andy Burnham for excluding the party from talks to reform England’s social care system amid speculation the Prime Minister could introduce new taxes to pay for it.
MSP Clare Haughey said it would be unfair for her party to be left out of talks if taxes set up to pay for it impacted Scotland.
Social care is devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
Andy Burnham invited the Tory and Liberal Democrat leaders to talks on English social care on Wednesday as he warned the NHS south of the border would collapse without reform.
Reports have suggested the Prime Minister could consider a range of options to pay for it, including a so-called “death tax” as well as a new income tax.
Ms Haughey urged the Prime Minister not to exclude the party from talks if they result in UK-wide taxes.
Reform and the Greens have also complained about being excluded from talks.
Ms Haughey said: “If Andy Burnham is planning to impose a tax hike on Scottish people to pay for reforms to English social care provision – then at the very least Scotland should be involved in those discussions.
“Not only has Andy Burnham barred Scotland from talks about a substantial change to the UK tax regime, he has barred the only party that actually provides free personal and nursing care – the SNP.
“Words are easy on social care, but what the Labour Government cannot do is treat nations like Scotland as an afterthought when it comes to radical reform – Scottish taxpayers will be completely miffed if their taxes are going up to pay for the English care sector.
“It is unthinkable that the Labour Party could raise UK income taxes on Scottish workers and impose a major new tax on the inheritance Scottish families can pass on from their family homes and life savings while cutting Scotland out of the conversation.
“People receiving social care in Scotland save thousands of pounds compared to those down south thanks to the SNP – and Andy Burnham would do well to recognise that we stand ready to work constructively in that context.”
During a speech on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said “difficult decisions” would have to be made to fund English social care.
Mr Burnham said the savings to England’s NHS from fixing issues around social care could help fund a reformed system.
But he acknowledged tax rises could also be necessary, although he insisted Labour’s manifesto commitments not to increase workers’ income tax, national insurance or VAT rates would remain in place.
The Prime Minister said it costs the NHS south of the border around £2.5 billion a year to have people who are medically fit to leave remaining in hospital because there is no care available in the community.
He suggested the lack of a “preventative front-end social care service” stopping people from needing to go into hospital in the first place was costing the NHS “several billion pounds a year”.
He said “I think we owe it to the public before we talk about tax rises” to “do more with what you’ve got”.
But he claimed that “some of what we want to do in the fuller sense will require difficult, difficult decisions” and “we will be honest with people about those”.
In an indication that tax hikes to pay for social care could be in Labour’s next election manifesto, he said: “We will put them before the country at the right time and we will hopefully proceed with people’s consent.”
