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| Burnham seeks new care consensus | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Health Secretary Andy Burnham has challenged the Conservatives to join cross-party talks on free care at home for elderly people in England. | |
| Mr Burnham has called a conference to discuss how to fund the care, promising to invite the main political parties. | Mr Burnham has called a conference to discuss how to fund the care, promising to invite the main political parties. |
| But he stipulated that they suspend "negative campaigning" on the issue. | But he stipulated that they suspend "negative campaigning" on the issue. |
| The Conservatives say they will only attend the conference if Mr Burnham rules out a compulsory levy or so-called "death tax". | |
| The parties have been involved in bitter clashes over the issue after attempts to reach a consensus broke down. | |
| Mr Burnham said he would be holding a conference involving charities and local authorities this week, to which the other parties would be invited. | Mr Burnham said he would be holding a conference involving charities and local authorities this week, to which the other parties would be invited. |
| 'No point' | |
| He said: "I will extend an invitation to the main political parties to put aside partisan campaigns and put the national interest first. | He said: "I will extend an invitation to the main political parties to put aside partisan campaigns and put the national interest first. |
| "I hope they will accept it and engage seriously in this debate that the country needs to have. | "I hope they will accept it and engage seriously in this debate that the country needs to have. |
| The costs of failing to act are simply too great to allow the debate needed to be drowned out by party-political squabbling Letter signed by 18 charities Charities demand end to care spat | |
| "If we fail to act, we will fail many vulnerable and elderly people who will continue to have to dig deep into their bank accounts to pay for care. | "If we fail to act, we will fail many vulnerable and elderly people who will continue to have to dig deep into their bank accounts to pay for care. |
| "In return, I ask that any negative campaigning is suspended. It is not right to use scare stories on an issue that affects so many vulnerable people." | "In return, I ask that any negative campaigning is suspended. It is not right to use scare stories on an issue that affects so many vulnerable people." |
| A spokesman for the Conservatives said the Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley would only attend the talks "if the government rules out a compulsory levy." | |
| He added: "There's no point going to this conference if there isn't a basic consensus on that issue." | |
| The Tories have proposed a voluntary levy instead, which would guarantee free personal care. | |
| 'Desperate' | |
| It emerged last week that the health spokesmen of the three main parties had privately discussed the issue and even agreed some shared principles on it. | |
| But attempts at a consensus broke down and the Tories accused Labour of planning a £20,000 "death tax" to pay for social care. | |
| A Conservative campaign poster featuring a gravestone with the slogan "RIP off" was denounced by Mr Burnham as "grubby and desperate". | |
| And Lord Mandelson accused Conservative leader David Cameron of "wrecking" the talks after claims - denied by the Tories - that he ordered Mr Lansley to pull out of them. | |
| But the Conservatives have stepped up their criticism of the government after it emerged pollsters had been employed to test the idea of a 10% tax on estates to fund elderly care. | |
| Eighteen charities including Carers UK, the National Care Forum, Age Concern, Help the Aged, Alzheimer's Society and Macmillan Cancer Support urged the political parties not to reduce the issue to "election soundbites" and "poster slogans". | |
| In a letter to The Times, they said: "The vexed question of who pays is unquestionably difficult, and the solutions may be controversial - but the costs of failing to act are simply too great to allow the debate needed to be drowned out by party-political squabbling." | |
| They added: "We need a care settlement that delivers long-term solutions that will not be reversed by changes in government or in the economic climate." | |
| The government's ageism tsar, Dame Joan Bakewell, has accused the Tories of "telling lies" about the elderly care plans, but also blamed Prime Minister Gordon Brown for turning the issue into a political "circus". | |
| Dame Joan, who was appointed as an independent "champion" for older people in 2008, described the Westminster row as "shameful". |