Burnham warns of ‘difficult decisions’ on tax for social care… as PM says failing to fix system is ‘dereliction of duty’

ANDY Burnham today braced taxpayers for “difficult decisions” to fund adult social care – saying he “could not forgive myself” if he failed to fix the broken system. The new PM said he would first try to drive reform “within existing budgets” but would be “honest with people” if more cash was needed. Andy Burnham making a speech on social care today Credit: Reuters The PM raised the possibility of higher taxes Credit: Reuters Social care in Britain is wildly expensive and often sees those in need of support forced to sell their homes to stump up costs. Mr Burnham, whose own father suffers with dementia, said the failure of successive governments has been a “major dereliction of public duty”. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! He said: “It’s shameful, to be honest, that politicians have put point scoring before fixing this issue, but that’s what’s happened. “It’s created a feeling in Westminster that this is too difficult, and if you take it on, you’re taking on too big a political risk.” Grilled if he would hike taxes to fund a new model, Mr Burnham said: “I think firstly, you have to do more with what you’ve got. “But… some of what we’d want to do in the fullest sense will require difficult decisions. “But we will be honest with people about those, we will put them before the country at the right time, and we will hopefully proceed with people’s consent…” Mr Burnham vowed to stick to Labour’s manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT. Most read in The Sun It opens the door to other options including a widely-touted hike to inheritance tax. While light on details, Mr Burnham said he wanted a “national conversation” on how to fix social care. He has expedited a review by Baroness Louise Casey to report back next year. He has also invited Kemi Badenoch and Sir Ed Davey to cross-party talks to find “common ground” on the issue. Nigel Farage has slammed Mr Burnham for cutting Reform out of the roundtable. He fumed: “If Andy Burnham is serious about putting politics aside to solve Britain’s biggest problems, it’s remarkable that he’s chosen to ignore Reform. “He is conspiring behind closed doors with the failed political establishment to foist further tax rises on the country. “The fact Ed Davey and Kemi Badenoch are going along with this tells you all you need to know. This is the uniparty in action.” Comment now