Andy Burnham has said the NHS will 'collapse' unless action is taken to fix the social care system in England. The Prime Minister would not put a timeline on introducing care reforms, in his first major interview since entering No 10.
Social care reform urgent
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Burnham said the NHS will never get back 'to good waiting time standards until we fix social care'. He added: 'I can't put a timeline on it right here, right now. If we don't do it, the NHS will collapse under the weight of trying to care for people who've not really needed to end up in the NHS system.'
Welfare bill reduction
Mr Burnham, who re-entered parliament in June for the first time since 2017, said the Government had to get 'really serious' about reducing the benefits bill, pointing to spending on housing benefits. He said mental health support should be provided 'in work', but warned he would not pursue 'crude cuts' to reduce welfare spending.
The issue of welfare spending had caused problems for his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer, who faced a backbench rebellion in 2025 before backing down. The Conservative Party, with Kemi Badenoch repeatedly calling for Labour to cut welfare to fund defence, has criticised high spending.
Mr Burnham said: 'I think we've got to get really serious as a country at getting the welfare bill down, and one of the things I would point to was the sell-off of social and council homes in the 1980s onwards that has left us chasing rents in the private rented sector through the benefit system, which means we've got a very high housing benefit bill in this country.'
He continued: 'I think the thing I'm just pushing back on is this idea that we go to a kind of crude approach, crude cuts to benefits to get the welfare bill down. Often that just pushes people into even more crisis and then even more public spending in another part of the system. We need a system that sets people up for success rather than pays for failure.'
No early election
Mr Burnham ruled out an early general election, saying he would not force voters to go to the polls nationally before 2029 amid speculation he would seek his own mandate. He told the BBC: 'I'm going to rule it out. Yeah, there's no early general election, I don't think people want it. You know, we've – well, the opinion polls might say some people do, some people don't.'
