Burnham said he would stick to the Labour manifesto, and its commitments on tax (which rule out rises in income tax, national insurance or VAT).
Q: But what about a special, new tax to fund social care?
Burnham replied:
Trust is really important to me here. I don’t think you can reform this system without it, without consensus.
So I’m saying to you that I will develop a very clear plan, and I will put that plan to the public at a general election.
He went on:
That will be where the plan gets tested. And people will then be able to decide.
And I am prepared to put myself in that position, recognising that it might be difficult or unpopular with some, but that is the way to do it, to get that endorsement and then introduce the system in the next parliament. Because the the backing of people for this really matters.
Ed Davey urges Burnham to show he's serious about social care reform by reviving cross-party talks
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has urged Andy Burnham to show he is serious about social care reform by reviving cross-party talks on the topic. In response to the PM’s interview this morning, he posted this on social media.
I really hope the PM is serious about fixing care, and he can show it by getting on with the cross-party talks we started in July.
This can’t just be a series of No10 headlines with no real action.
I’ll do everything I can to put family carers at the heart of any solution.
After giving a big speech on social care reform in July, soon after he became PM, Burnham invited Davey and Kemi Badenoch at short notice to cross-party talks on the issue. Davey was abroad, and attended via Zoom. Badenoch was away, and she sent Stuart Andrew, the then shadow health secretary, in her place. A few weeks later Andrew quit the shadow cabinet as part of a reshuffle.
A heckler could be heard shouting “get on with it, Andy” as the Labour conference opened in Liverpool, PA Media reports. PA says:
Andy Burnham was present in the conference hall when the heckle was made.
It came as Liverpool city region mayor Steve Rotheram spoke about Labour’s plans to build social homes.
Rotheram responded to the heckle saying: “That’s me, Dad, that.” He gave a thumbs-up, before adding: “Me ma says she’s put the kettle on for ya.”
Concluding his opening speech, he said: “Over the next few days, enjoy the debates, the speeches, the fringe events, the hecklers, but also enjoy this city.
TUC leader Paul Nowak predicts government will 'change course' over proposed tougher residency rules for foreign care workers
Ben Quinn
Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.
Andy Burnham’s government “will change course” on Shabana Mahmood’s controversial migration reforms, the TUC general secretary has predicted as the plans came under attack at Labour’s annual conference.
Paul Nowak said politician of all types had a responsibility to be careful with their language as he appeared at an event which heard that people from BAME backgrounds sometimes felt sentiment seized on by the far right was being “legitimised” by some government policies
Proposals that would force more than 300,000 low-paid workers to wait 15 years for the legal right to remain in the UK have emerged as an ongoing point of friction in Labour at at time when the party has largely been unifying around a new leader. (See 11.35am.)
The plans were criticised by some attendees at a fringe conference event organised by the anti-fascist group, Hope not Hate, to discuss the role of communities in resisting racism and xenophobia.
Michaela Chen, a human rights lawyer at the Work Rights Centre - a charity with helps migrant workers - told the event some government policies appeared to be “legitimising” sentiment which a resurgent far right was seeking to build on as it targeted some communities.
“It’s wonderful that there is a sense of hope now, but also it’s hard to continue to be hopeful when there is also a betrayal,” she told the Guardian afterwards.
Nowak, who was one of the speakers, said “an atmosphere of fear” created by the far right was having an impact on migrant as well as black and ethnic minority workers across the UK. He said:
I think the language of politicians across the spectrum matters. On the government’s settlement reforms I hope the government change course. I think it will change course, I think it has to change course. Changing the rules for people who have come to live and work in this country is untenable.
Reform UK revives 'death tax' slogan to attack Burnham's plan for new levy to fund NHS-style free social care
When Labour, with Andy Burnham as health secretary, proposed social care reform in 2009 funded by a tax on estates, the Tories swiftly described the proposal as “a death tax” and the idea was probably doomed even before the 2010 election campaign began. Labour deployed similar tactics in 2017, when Theresa May published plans for social care reforms that would have raised costs for wealthier pensioners. Labour said it was a “dementia tax”, and May lost her majority.
Burnham said this morning that he hoped this time there would be a more responsible debate. (See 9.35am and 9.47am.)
Three hours after his interview, there does not seem to be much evidence that anything has changed. Reform UK has already accused him of proposing a “universal death tax”.
Robert Jenrick, the Reform UK Treasury spokesperson, said:
Andy Burnham has yet again refused to rule out his universal death tax. He’s too weak to cut the sky-high benefits bill, so he’s coming for your home instead.
It is an unfair, cruel levy on the people of this country, and it would make Britain the single-worst place in the Western world to hand down money to your kids.
Reform UK will fight Burnham’s universal death tax. Money that is taxed when it is earned, saved and spent should not be taxed a fourth time as you are laid to rest.
Jenrick is assuming that Burnham will propose an extra tax on inheritance. Burnham did make it clear this morning that there would have be some form of tax rise to fund his plan, but he would not give details, and he played down the idea it would just be a re-run of his 2009 plan. (See 9.47am.)
Chris Philp says Tories would oppose any new tax to fund better social care
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, was also on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. Responding to what Burnham said about social care, Philp said the Conservative party would not support having a new tax to fund better social care. He said:
This country is already taxed too highly. It’s already destroying jobs. It’s already making businesses go bankrupt. High taxes are already driving businesses and successful people overseas.
What I inferred from Andy Burnham’s interview just then is they do plan more tax rises.
And let me be categorical; the Conservative party will not support more tax rises if more money is needed, for example, for social care or indeed for defence. We would find that money through savings elsewhere, particularly in the welfare budget, which is far too high.
Darren Jones, who was chief secretary to the PM when Keir Starmer was in No 10, was a guest on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. Some of his comments about Andy Burnham’s government have not been notably supportive (particularly this one).
Asked about what Burnham said about presenting the public with a plan to raise taxes to pay for an NHS-style social care system, Jones said Burnham was being “very bold and brave”. Viewers of Yes Minister will know that “brave” is a civil service euphemism for “mad”.
But Jones sounded a bit more positive than that. He said that, if Burnham could “land” this policy in the right way, it would be “a huge achievement”.
Darren Jones (left), on the panel listening to Andy Burnham on the BBC’s Sunday with the Laura Kuenssberg Show. Photograph: Getty Images
Angela Rayner claims there is 'no split' in cabinet on proposed residency rules for foreign care workers
Yesterday the Times splashed on astory saying Angela Rayner, the housing secretary, had criticised Shabana Mahmood’s plans to make foreign care workers wait up to 15 years before they can apply to permanent residency in the UK. Other news organisations have presented this as a major split, or even “civil war”.
Rayner was on Sky News this morning and she insisted she was just restating a view she has already expressed. Asked about the split, she said:
Shabana had a consultation on the transitional arrangements, and she’s been really clear that we’ve got to have a fair system that is fair for people that contribute today, and those that come to this country to contribute.
I have absolute support for Shabana in that, and I’m sure she’ll come to a good conclusion on that.
I contributed to that consultation, and I’m on the record for that.
We’re all united. We’ve seen on illegal migration, those figures coming down, so I think that she’s doing a fantastic job. So there’s no split story there, unfortunately.
In fact, there is a clear division between what Rayner wants and what Mahmood proposed when the plans were first published last year. But it is probably misleading to present this as a bitter row – because Andy Burnham has also expressed clear views on this, and he broadly sides with Rayner. In evidence to the home affairs committee earlier this month, Mahmood strongly hinted that she is going to accommodate the views of her boss and there will be a compromise.
At the Labour conference, Steve Rotheram, the Labour mayor of Liverpool city region, is giving a speech opening the proceedings in the main hall. He is a close friend of Andy Burnham and he says it is great to have an Evertonian PM. He also says the last prime minister to come from Liverpool was Gladstone, who served four terms. So no pressure on Burnham, then, he jokes.
Q: What do you say to people who argue you should have banned the Orange Order march down the Garvaghy Road today?
Burnham said that a decision like that would have had to have been made on the advice of the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. And the chief constable did not recommend that, he says.
But he says he has spoken to Chris Bryant, the Nothern Ireland secretary, this morning. He says they are appealing for calm.
That was the final question in Burnham’s interview with Laura Kuenssberg.
Frances Mao has further coverage of the march on a seperate live blog.
Burnham says concerns of women in Piddington about camp for asylum seekers 'understandable'
Q: What would you say to the women of Piddington concerned about having a camp for asylum seeker near their village, or women in other villages with similar concerns?
Burnham replied:
Those concerns are understandable and they have to be addressed in whatever solution is finally agreed.
There were also concerns expressed about the use of hotels and the reason why the nature of accommodation is changing across the country is because a commitment was given to end the use of hotels, and that was what many people were calling for a few years ago.
Asked if he regarded the far-right activist Daniel Thomas, who has organised the masked protests and who is known to his supporters as Danny Tommo, as racist, Burnham replied:
Well, it’s hard to conclude that he’s anything other than someone who has racist views.
I hesitate always … I’ve not read everything that he said, I’ve not followed everything that he’s done … so I’m just going to say that because I don’t just throw labels on people.
But given everything and the way he’s behaving and what he’s seeking to whip up, I mean this is the worst kind of hateful behaviour.
Burnham condemns masked anti-migrant protesters, saying they are 'creating fear' and it's 'unacceptable'
Asked about the masked men on the streets how have protesting about migrants in towns in the south of England recently, Burnham said this was “unacceptable”.
He said:
Unacceptable. Creating fear and intimidation on British streets – this is not something we’ve seen in this country before and it’s not something we want to see.
Burnham said there were “real worries” about immigration. But he went on:
But let’s look at the facts. Net migration is down 80% on what it was in the Boris Johnson era.
Boat crossings are down 50% this year on what they were in the early 2020s.
So I understand people’s concerns and I will be relentless in addressing their concerns.
But people also have to look at the facts, and they also have to see when people are playing the worst kind of politics with this issue. That is leading to people feeling afraid in their own communities.
Andy Burnham being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC in Liverpool this morning. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/AFP/Getty Images