New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Monday said he does not want to leave office until he resolves the country’s social care crisis, and pledged to use his political capital to do so. Speaking to journalists just hours after starting work in his new office on Downing Street, Andy Burnham described the issue as personal, noting that his father suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
According to the prime minister, people who need care in the social care system are often forced to turn to the already overburdened National Health Service. The former mayor of Greater Manchester in northwest England, Andy Burnham, has long emphasized the need to reform the system and find sources of funding, noting that government delays have caused many elderly people to lose their homes and savings to pay for care.
History of reforms and political responsibility
Andy Burnham, who first attempted to reform social care funding as health minister under the premiership of Gordon Brown, said he does not want to repeat what previous governments have done, which avoided this problem for nearly 30 years. He called the situation that has developed an extremely disappointing characteristic of his generation of politicians, who lacked the political courage to solve it.
Unlike the National Health Service, social care is not free for most citizens. Previous prime ministers have considered various measures, including capping the maximum cost of services, but have failed to gain support for such an expensive policy. This cannot be justified. We must acknowledge the problem and fix it, Andy Burnham summarized.
Source: The Straits Times
