Roy Burnham, the father of Prime Minister Andy Burnham, has died following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, according to The Independent. After his father’s death, the Prime Minister cancelled all scheduled engagements for Monday and Tuesday, including a meeting with business leaders at Downing Street that had been planned for Monday afternoon.
Andy Burnham previously explained that his father’s Alzheimer’s meant he never knew his son had become Prime Minister. In a summer interview with The Times, he said: «It’s sad, because he would have been proud. I see it as his achievement, too. It’s a family achievement, even though he doesn’t know it.»
Memories of his father and social care reform
Later, on the podcast How to Fail with Elizabeth Day, Burnham described a visit to the care facility where his father lived six days after he became Prime Minister.
Staff showed his father footage of his son’s first arrival at Downing Street. One employee explained that the team roughly knew when the Prime Minister would pass Downing Street, so they placed Roy in a chair in front of the television. Six staff members gathered around him and said: «Roy, look.» Burnham said his father turned toward them, and for a moment they thought he understood what was happening.
Andy Burnham has pledged to «tackle the reform» of the adult social care system, drawing on his father’s experience. In a major speech on social care reform, he promised to help «my dad and millions like him» who face the injustices of the current system.
Burnham described the social care system in England as «broken» and «the worst of all possible systems», calling its overhaul a «massive» priority for society.
Source: The Independent UK
