Burnham invites Tories and Lib Dems to social care talks

Burnham invites Tories and Lib Dems to social care talksImage source, EPAByJoshua Nevett, Political reporter and Alison Holt , Social affairs editorPublishedJust nowAndy 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 Yve...