Andy Burnham faces backlash over social care funding plans as PM told 'death tax is not the answer!'

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is facing growing criticism ahead of the expected publication of his long‑awaited social care proposals this week, amid warnings that families could face a new “death tax” to help fund the reforms.

Opponents across the political spectrum have urged him not to impose a levy on estates, arguing that a universal social care system could cost more than £18billion a year.

Mr Burnham first floated the idea of a “care levy” in May, but critics fear such a measure could pull hundreds of thousands of pensioners into paying tax on their estates despite never previously being liable for inheritance tax.

In 2022–23, fewer than five per cent of estates paid inheritance tax.

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Chancellor John Healey is also under pressure to explain how the Government intends to fund what the Conservatives say is more than £50billion of unfunded spending commitments ahead of the Autumn Budget.

Reform UK justice spokesman Robert Jenrick condemned the proposals.

“Everyone wants to fix social care, but an £18billion death tax is emphatically not the answer,” he said.

“People are already reeling from a record tax burden. If Burnham presses ahead it would be a hammer‑blow for millions of people across the country.”

He warned the plans could pull “650,000 hard‑working pensioners into paying a death tax each year”, adding that people who had spent a lifetime saving should not be “double‑taxed on their hard‑earned savings”.

Mr Jenrick also questioned the Prime Minister’s mandate.

“If Andy Burnham wants to reheat his failed death tax he should call a general election and see what the British people make of it,” he said.

“He has no mandate to inflict a mammoth tax assault on the country.”

The TaxPayers’ Alliance echoed the criticism.

Its chief executive, John O’Connell, said: “Andy Burnham is already flirting with a vast new social care bureaucracy, but has no credible plan to pay for it beyond raiding taxpayers yet again.”

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He added that a national care service funded by new death taxes would “punish families who have worked, saved and already paid tax all their lives”.

Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride has written to Mr Healey demanding details of how the Prime Minister’s spending commitments will be funded.

“Andy Burnham came into office without a plan,” he said.

“These unfunded pledges will only add to concern and speculation about yet more Labour tax rises at the next Budget.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has compared the potential impact of unfunded commitments with the economic turmoil that followed Liz Truss’s premiership.

Downing Street defended the Prime Minister’s approach. A Number 10 source said: “Andy is going to run towards problems that have been neglected, giving people hope again.”

The source added that he “has the courage to fix the most difficult issues that have been ignored for years and seen as impossible to resolve”, and wants to “get Britain believing again”.

Labour rejected the Conservative criticism. A party spokesman said: “The Tories crashed the economy and left families worse off. They’ve never apologised and are still making uncosted promises today.”

The Resolution Foundation has warned that commitments announced during Mr Burnham’s first days in office have reduced the Government’s fiscal headroom to around £8billion — the amount it can spend while staying within its borrowing and debt rules.

The debate comes amid intensifying pressure over the state of the social care system.

Around 900,000 requests for care were refused last year, while about 40,000 older people annually are forced to sell their homes to pay for residential care.

The Department of Health has confirmed it will freeze the capital thresholds that determine eligibility for free care: the lower limit will remain at £14,250, and the upper threshold — above which people must fully fund their own care — will stay at £23,250.

Campaign group Silver Voices urged the Government to act more quickly.

Its director, Dennis Reed, said: “[We] need action, not more warm words on social care.

“A bold first step would be to order Baroness Casey to scrap her ridiculously elongated timetable for the Commission and come up with recommendations and options by the end of the year.”

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