Prime Minister Andy Burnham held back tears as he paid an emotional tribute to his father Roy during his first speech as Labour leader at the party's conference in Liverpool on Tuesday afternoon (September 29). The speech came just two weeks after his father's death.
Kenneth Roy Burnham, known as Roy, had been living with Alzheimer's in a care home. Downing Street announced the news of his death on September 14.
A Personal Moment at Conference
During his speech, Mr Burnham said not everyone will agree with every part of his plan, adding that we "can turn Britain around" but it requires us to think bigger. He said he will fight hard for what he believes is right and in the best interests of the country. Mr Burnham then took a long pause and the conference rose with applause.
Visibly emotional, the Prime Minister added: "On the day my dad died, the Scottish First Minister said I will be the last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
"I quote that not to seek sympathy, nor to criticise John Swinney. I don't think he knew the news at the time. And anyway, my dad Roy would have been the first to defend his right to say it."
He added: "I want you to know how it made me feel. Utterly determined to prove him wrong".
Family Legacy and Pride
As he continued to fight back tears, Mr Burnham added that this country gave his dad a good life. It has given his sons' opportunities he didn't get himself, he says. "If only he had been able to appreciate that moment of the family in Downing Street," he added. "The son of a man who failed his Eleven Plus becoming Prime Minister."
He says his dad voted every time, religiously, for the Labour government that changed education so that his sons could go to university when he could not. "The UK my dad represented is the one I believe in," he said.
National Care Service Plans
Earlier in his speech, Mr Burnham confirmed plans for a new national care service. He said there is only one real answer - "a person-centred high-quality care service that starts in the home". A system in the best traditions of this party, where everyone contributes and everyone is covered. No care charges paid out of your basic state pension. Care that is about people not profit, he said.
"This is the national care service we will build," he added. He said the care service will be introduced in the next parliament. It will be fully funded and not through borrowing, he added.
Mr Burnham had previously spoken about his dad as he discussed social care reform earlier this year. He said at the time: "Why am I doing this? For my dad and millions of people like him up and down the country."
The Makerfield MP had previously spoken of how, on the eve of becoming PM in July, his dad did not know he was on the brink of power. He told the Times: "That's a sadness because he would be [proud]. The way I look at it, it's his achievement as well. A whole family achievement although he doesn't know it."
But Mr Burnham later found out how care home staff had tried to show his dad the moment he became PM, and that 'momentarily' he was aware. Speaking on the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, he said: "Something wonderful happened last week.
"I went into his care home on Sunday. This was the Sunday after I'd become Prime Minister, so six days later. One of the staff said 'oh, the manager wants to speak to you before you leave'. So I went over and I spoke to her and she said 'we all wanted you to know'.
"I have to be careful here, this does make me quite emotional. She said, 'we all knew what time you might be coming up Downing Street so we got Roy in his chair, and we got the telly right in front of him, and six of us stood around him and all said 'Roy, look'.
"And she said he turned and momentarily, they said, 'we thought he knew'."
