Nigel Farage is locked out of cross-party discussions on adult social care because he stormed out of Parliament, according to Metro columnist Pablo O'Hana. When Prime Minister Andy Burnham asked Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey to find a cross-party solution to the social care crisis, he specifically did not call Farage.
Farage criticised Burnham, saying he was 'conspiring behind closed doors with the failed political establishment to foist further tax rises on the country'. However, unlike the other leaders, Farage is not a Member of Parliament. He resigned on July 7, quitting Clacton ahead of parliamentary investigations into his financial declarations, including a £5 million payment from a Thailand-based businessman and questions over gifts from a financier convicted of wire fraud in the US. He denies wrongdoing, and the investigation is paused while he is not in Parliament.
By-election and boycotts
Farage is now fighting a by-election on August 13 against a bin. Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and the Green Party refused to stand, denouncing it as a fake vote. Even Restore Britain are boycotting. O'Hana argues Farage threw a tantrum at the first ounce of real scrutiny and is now being treated like a child who hasn't gotten his way.
The Greens were also not invited. Their deputy leader Zack Polanski said he'd like to be there and that 'the point here is not politicians' personal egos, the point is adult social care is a ticking time bomb'. His parliamentary leader Ellie Chowns wrote to Burnham calling the exclusion deeply disappointing and offering to work constructively.
Jenrick's honesty
Reform's Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said he was 'not surprised' Farage hadn't been invited, that Ed Davey and Kemi Badenoch turning up 'tells you all you need to know about their parties', and that Reform would stand alone and fight whatever emerged. O'Hana calls Jenrick 'the most honest man in this story', noting Reform's position is to oppose before any proposal exists.
Ed Davey, who cared for his dying mother and now looks after his disabled wife and son, attended online after a last-minute invitation. Badenoch, unable to attend for personal reasons, sent her Shadow Health Secretary.
Social care crisis
The social care problem has plagued every government for a generation, with 22 failed reform attempts since 1997. There are 1.5 million care workers, 4.7 million unpaid carers, and 13,600 people a day stuck in hospital beds they don't medically need. O'Hana writes any solution will be unpopular, which is why it has been ignored. Farage has pre-declared any solution a 'death tax' and promised to fight it, but has no alternative plan.
Burnham, only nine days as Prime Minister, has declined to treat Farage as the opposition. Labour has overtaken Reform in the polls for the first time in nearly two years. O'Hana concludes: 'You can call as many by-elections as you like and try to win Clacton back on 13th August against a bin, but you still won’t be in the room. Because the room is for people who came to fix something.'
