Burnham Hints at New UK Taxes to Pay for Social Care Reform

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has signaled he will set out proposals to introduce new levies to pay for a reformed social care service.

Burnham confirmed he wanted care for the elderly and infirm to operate “on NHS principles,” meaning it would be universally free at the point of use like the country’s National Health Service. He did not deny that would be paid for with tax increases, saying: “Nothing is off the table at this moment in time.”

The UK premier said he rejected estimates from The Health Foundation that suggest the bill for providing free social care across England would add £18 billion ($23.8 billion) a year, to increase current government expenditure by around 50%. But he said he would expect everyone to contribute to the cost of the policy.

Speaking at the start of his party’s annual conference in Liverpool, Burnham pledged that he would begin to give more detail in the coming days, saying he would outline a comprehensive plan to voters ahead of the next general election, which has to be held before August 2029. In the interim he pledged to maintain Labour’s manifesto commitments not to increase income tax or tax on employees’ national insurance contributions.

Burnham characterized the changes to social care as a “preventative” policy which could minimize health spending elsewhere.

Alluding to the contentious nature of the long-ignored policy area, Burnham argued the UK already has a de-facto “dementia tax” because the elderly often have to pay thousands of pounds to cover their own costs. “So the idea that there isn’t already a cost is just wrong. It’s just making that cost fairer and spreading it across the population,” he said.

In the broadcast interview with the BBC, Burnham repeatedly declined to say whether he supported plans for a third runway at London’s Heathrow airport that were approved by his predecessor Keir Starmer, saying the expansion was a matter for London.

The prime minister recapitulated a message of optimism inflected with honesty that will run through the party’s conference, which last through Wednesday.

Read More: Hope Tempered by Reality: Burnham to Set Out His Vision for UK

“I am here to do something, I am here to end the decade of drift and division that we’ve had since Brexit,” he pledged.

He said he wanted voters to be left thinking: “I understand what he’s doing, why he said that, and I can see that as a path that could take Britain to a better place.”