UK Prime Minister Burnham launches social care reform push

Prime Minister Andy Burnham launched a major push to reform England’s social care system on July 29, 2026, pledging to end decades of political inaction and acknowledging that difficult decisions on funding, including potential tax changes, will be necessary. In an emotional speech at a care home in Enfield, north London, Burnham described the failure to address the crisis as a "major dereliction of public duty" and vowed to stake his political capital on achieving a lasting solution.

The Prime Minister, whose father has Alzheimer’s, framed the issue in personal terms, stating he was acting "for my dad and the millions like him." He sharply criticized the current means-tested system, which he said is "as unfair as American healthcare," forcing vulnerable people to "pay with everything" and sometimes lose their life savings. A central goal is to prevent people from having to sell their homes to pay for care, a process he called "horrendous." Currently, individuals in England with assets over 23,250 pounds receive no state help for residential care costs, with an estimated one in seven facing bills exceeding 100,000 pounds.

Burnham outlined immediate steps, including accelerating...