Burnham invites Tories and Lib Dems to social care talks

Andy Burnham has invited the leaders of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats for talks on reforming social care in England.

The prime minister wants to meet Kemi Badenoch and Sir Ed Davey on Wednesday, when he is expected to give a speech saying that finding cross-party common ground will be key to the reform.

Liberal Dem leader Sir Ed said he would attend remotely but Tory leader Badenoch cannot be there and is sending shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew instead.

A Conservative source criticised the short notice invitation, suggesting: "It's almost like it's only being done for show."

Burnham did not invite the leaders of Reform UK or the Green Party of England and Wales.

Last week the prime minister told the BBC the NHS would "collapse" if social care was not reformed, saying he would not want to leave office without bringing in "substantial change" to the system.

The prime minister said he would put "whatever political capital" he had "into fixing broken social care" but did not put a timeline on changes.

Burnham first proposed a universal system of social care in England in 2009 when he was health secretary under former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

He suggested a compulsory levy to fund the system and Brown's government also floated the idea of allowing people to defer the payment until after they died, leading to the Tories branding it a "death tax".

In his speech on Wednesday, Burnham is not expected to set out detailed plans for a new system of social care in England.

But the BBC has been told he will announce he is speeding up the Casey Commission, an independent review led by Baroness Louise Casey which will draw up recommendations to deliver a National Care Service.

At the speech, he will be joined by Health Secretary Yvette Cooper. Baroness Casey herself will also be there to launch a consultation that will give the public a chance to share their views on social care.

Speaking ahead of his speech, Burnham said it was "time to draw a line under people playing politics" with social care.

"Last week I said we needed a different kind of politics: problem-solving, not point-scoring," he said.

"Nowhere is that more urgent than social care. For decades, governments have kicked this issue down the road because they've seen it as too risky, too difficult, and too complicated.

"Politicians might have different views but I'm serious about fixing this issue and to do that, we have to find common ground and listen to others to find a way forward."

Burnham is expected to announce he is speeding up the Casey Commission

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