Andy Burnham, the Labour Party Prime Minister and former Greater Manchester Mayor, has declined to rule out implementing a 10% levy on estates, often referred to as a “death tax,” as a means to fund his social care reforms. The proposal could potentially affect around 650,000 families annually.
During recent discussions, Mr Burnham emphasised the need for a collaborative approach to address the perennial challenge of social care funding. “No party is in a position where they’ve got the high ground – we’ve all failed on this issue over decades and the pressure now on the National Health Service as a result of that failure is huge,” he stated.
The idea of a levy on estates has been met with criticism. Nigel Farage told The Sun that such a tax would impose a heavy burden on hardworking families, drawing an additional 650,000 into paying death taxes each year. He further commented, “If the Prime Minister wants to raid people’s life savings he should do the decent thing and call a general election.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch expressed concern over proposals involving tax increases or additional borrowing. She urged: “The money must be found by reducing current spending. You must rule out any tax rises, or increased borrowing that will ultimately fall on the next generation to pay for. The last thing Britain needs is further tax increases to pay for social care.”
Mr Burnham welcomed cross-party engagement on the issue, highlighting recent outreach from Ms Badenoch and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey. He said, “I want to build a different way of doing politics with more problem solving, less point scoring… On this issue, no party is in a position where they’ve got the high ground. We’ve all failed over decades. The pressure now on the NHS is huge.”
He called for cross-party talks to develop a lasting and widely supported solution: “This issue requires a solution that is lasting, cross-party, and is one that the country can support. So the more we go forward on that basis, the better.”
Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrats’ health and social care spokesperson, criticised the Conservative Party’s stance over the years. She said, “For 20 years the Conservatives have stood in the way of reforming social care. Consistently they have chosen to play party politics rather than get around the table and look for a solution. We firmly believe that you can solve social care without raising taxes on working people, but we also believe that you cannot do it without all the parties working together.”