Andy Burnham vows to finally tackle 'devastating' social care crisis after decades of political failure

Andy Burnham has pledged to tackle the "devastating" social care crisis as he slammed the "cowardice" of previous generations of politicians for failing to solve the crisis.

The Prime Minister said nothing was off the table to pay for the reforms, which would be put to the public at the next general election.

Mr Burnham is constrained by Labour’s current manifesto commitments not to hike income tax, VAT or national insurance for workers.

His previous attempts to reform the system as health secretary which could have been funded by a levy on estates was condemned as a “death tax” by opponents.

However, Mr Burnham was prepared to have another attempt at a taxpayer-funded national care service, despite the potential unpopularity it would cause.

He told the BBC: "People are paying care charges now. They are spending tens of thousands of pounds from their savings, sometimes losing their homes. That is what’s happening at the moment.

"So to suggest there isn’t a cost to people at this moment in time, there’s a huge cost.

"Social care in England is as unfair as American healthcare, where the most vulnerable in society can lose everything, they can be wiped out, not just by the condition that they have, but wiped out financially."

Mr Burnham will set out the "broad direction" of his social care plans in his Labour Party conference speech in Liverpool on Tuesday.

Baroness Louise Casey is leading a review of social care and Mr Burnham is committed to cross-party talks to try to find a consensus.

Mr Burnham said: "We have dementia taxes right now and people can lose everything they’ve worked for paying those taxes.

"So the idea that there isn’t already a cost is just wrong. It’s just making that cost fairer and spreading it across across the population."

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Asked if a levy on estates was one option he was considering, he said: "Nothing is off the table at this moment in time. Now that doesn’t mean that I’m going straight back to the proposal that I had in 2010."

In a sign that some tax rises would be required, Mr Burnham said Labour’s manifesto promises made it "hard to do in this Parliament" so he would put his proposals to the public in the next election expected in 2029.

He said: "I am prepared to put myself in that position, recognising that it might be difficult or unpopular with some."

A care service which, like the NHS, is free at the point of use could cost up to £18.5billion a year in 2035/6, the Health Foundation think tank has estimated.

Mr Burnham rejected that assessment and pointed out there would be savings to the NHS from people who no longer needed emergency treatment or a hospital bed because they had better social care provision.

The Prime Minister, whose father died earlier this month, said: "When I was in Parliament first time round, in fact, when I was a new MP, my gran was going through the care system.

"As health secretary I remember saying 'we shouldn’t let what happened to my grandparents’ generation happen to my parents’ generation', and it’s devastating actually to be here, and it has happened.

"Parliament just ignoring this issue because they consider it too difficult. Is there any wonder that politics is in such low esteem with the public when it can’t fix something as basic as the care that we give to each other?"

Mr Burnham added he does not want to focus on a "narrative of doom” about the UK’s economy but that he will show in his leader’s speech at Labour conference that he is prepared to take tough decisions.

He said:: "Let’s now let’s focus on where we are and let’s not get into a position where we’ve just got a narrative of doom about all of this.

"We are the fastest growing economy in the G7 right now, and credit to what Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves did to get that turnaround going."

When he was pressed on potential about the UK economy’s health and where he would make cuts to balance the books, he said: "If people wait till Tuesday, they will see that I am prepared to take those type of decisions.

"I won’t do what the previous Conservative government did and take risks with the economy that actually are still hurting us right now."