Nocturnal 
Andy Burnham has announced plans for a national care service in England, telling the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg the current system for looking after elderly and vulnerable people is “threadbare” and in urgent need of an overhaul.
The prime minister says the new service would be “free at the point of use” and modelled on NHS principles. Rather than legislating for it now, he plans to put the policy directly to voters at the next general election.
Speaking to Kuenssberg, Burnham didn’t mince his words about the stakes. “Broken social care will in the end break the NHS,” he warned, tying the state of the care sector directly to the future of the health service.
What Burnham is actually proposing
The plan would see social care shift towards a model where people don’t face crippling bills for support in old age or due to disability, echoing how the NHS operates. Burnham says he wants to build a “clear plan” first, then seek what he’s calling “cross-party consensus” before letting the public have the final say at the ballot box.
That’s a notably cautious approach from a leader who was, by his own admission, previously sceptical about this kind of scheme before taking office. It suggests he’s wary of the political minefield that has swallowed social care reform under successive governments.
Tories say tax rises are coming
The response from the opposition was swift. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp told the BBC “we do not support tax increases,” accusing Burnham of implying that more tax rises would be needed to fund the scheme.
Philp said this was a “red line” for the Conservatives, and argued that if more money is needed for social care or defence, it should come from cuts to the welfare budget instead.
The BBC’s political correspondent noted that Burnham is well aware of the political dangers this policy carries, with previous attempts at care reform having proven toxic for other parties in the past.
Other announcements from the interview
Burnham used the same sit-down to address a string of other issues. He refused to commit to backing a third runway at Heathrow, calling it “a contested issue” and “a matter for London”.
He also condemned the “hateful behaviour” of anti-migrant activist Danny Tommo, though didn’t elaborate further in the extracts released so far.
Later the same day, Burnham was expected to unveil a separate scheme aimed at helping English first-time buyers get onto the housing ladder, as he heads into his first Labour Party conference as prime minister in Liverpool.
It comes in the same week that former Business Secretary Peter Kyle, sacked in Burnham’s reshuffle two months ago, said the government needs to act with “more urgency” and be willing to accept “short-term” pain to deliver economic growth, including potentially “honest conversations with unions” over workers’ rights.
Chancellor John Healey is due to deliver his first Budget on 28 October, against a backdrop of rising debt costs and warnings of slower economic growth.
What happens now
For now, the national care service remains a proposal rather than a done deal. Burnham has been clear he wants to build consensus before putting it to voters at the next general election, meaning the policy’s fate — and its funding — will likely dominate political debate for months to come.
