# Burnham turns to Tories and Lib Dems for help on social care: ‘Help me fix this’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/burnham-turns-to-tories-and-lib-dems-for-help-on-social-care-help-me-fix-this/
- Published: 2026-07-28T21:33:14+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-28T22:11:53+00:00
- Original publisher: The Independent (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/andy-burnham-social-care-tories-lib-dems-b3023295.html
- Topics: Government, Politics, UK, World

## Key points

- Burnham seeks cross-party deal with Tories, Lib Dems on social care
- Comes as government faces tight finances and rising inflation forecasts
- Reform, excluded from talks, accuses Burnham of reviving "death tax"

## Summary

Andy Burnham has invited Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey to a Downing Street summit to seek cross-party agreement on fixing England's social care system, framing it as a test of "problem-solving, not point-scoring" politics. The prime minister argues that decades of governments avoiding the issue have left carers struggling, families paying the price and the NHS under mounting strain, and he wants to draw a line under the political point-scoring that has previously derailed reform attempts.

The summit takes place amid pressure on the wider public finances, with the government already facing questions over how to fund £2bn of pledges including scrapping VAT on energy bills and capping bus fares, alongside a forecast that inflation could near 4 per cent next year and a defence funding gap of £5bn to £18bn. Sir Ed has said the Lib Dems are willing to work with Burnham, while Badenoch has offered cooperation but ruled out backing tax rises; Reform UK, not invited to the talks, has pre-emptively accused Burnham of reviving the "death tax" policy he proposed as health secretary in 2009, a claim Downing Street has denied.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.