As his party opened its annual conference in Liverpool, Burnham said he plans to unveil ideas for fresh charges to finance an overhauled social care service. He wants care for older and infirm people to follow "NHS principles," with access free at the point of need. He said he will start adding detail in the days ahead and intends to present voters with a full plan before the next general election, which must take place by August 2029.
Pressed on costs, Burnham said, "Nothing is off the table at this moment in time." He added that he anticipated all citizens would chip in toward financing the policy. For the time being, he vowed to honor Labour's pledge by leaving income tax untouched and avoiding any rise in employees' national insurance contributions. He also framed the reforms as "preventative," aiming to reduce pressures and spending elsewhere in the health system.
Burnham rejected The Health Foundation's projection that making social care free across England would require £18 billion ($23.8 billion) annually, which the group says would be about a 50% rise in current government spending. He argued the country already faces a de-facto "dementia tax," with many older people paying thousands of pounds toward their own care. "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.
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In a BBC interview, Burnham repeatedly refused to say whether he backs adding a new runway at London's Heathrow airport - a plan signed off under his predecessor Keir Starmer - and cast the decision as a matter for London. He set an upbeat but plainspoken tone for a conference that runs through Wednesday, saying, "I am here to do something, I am here to end the decade of drift and division that we've had since Brexit." He wants voters to come away 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."
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