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Burnham seeks new care consensus Parties clash over elderly care
(about 3 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. Attempts to reach a deal on elderly care in England appear to have fallen even further apart amid angry exchanges on BBC One's Politics Show.
Mr Burnham has called a conference to discuss how to fund the care, promising to invite the main political parties. Health Secretary Andy Burnham has called a cross-party conference on the issue after earlier talks broke down.
But he stipulated that they suspend "negative campaigning" on the issue. Lib Dem Norman Lamb backed the idea but Tory spokesman Andrew Lansley said he would only attend if Labour scrapped a £20,000 "death tax" plan.
The Conservatives say they will only attend the conference if Mr Burnham rules out a compulsory levy or so-called "death tax". Mr Burnham accused the Tories of making up "scare stories" about his proposals.
The parties have been involved in bitter clashes over the issue after attempts to reach a consensus broke down, with Labour accusing the Tories of "wrecking" the talks. He said the compulsory levy on estates to pay for free personal care at home for the most elderly was just one of three options set out in a Green Paper and no decision had been reached.
But Shadow Education Secretary Michael Gove claimed it was Labour that had broken the consensus, accusing Labour of "spreading propaganda" about Tory proposals, in leaflets, even while cross-party talks were ongoing. 'Negative campaign'
He told BBC One's Andrew Marr programme: "People in glass houses should not throw stones," adding that Mr Burnham was a "young politician, idealistic, but he has a lot to learn." He accused the Conservatives of indulging on old-style "nasty" campaigning with a "scaremongering" poster, which says: "now Gordon wants £20,000 when you die".
Mr Burnham has 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.
"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 spatThe 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. He added: "This is not an issue for scare stories and negative campaigning. It involves vulnerable people and we need to remember that at all times in this debate."
"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." Mr Burnham has said he would be holding a conference involving charities and local authorities this week, to which the main political parties would be invited.
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." Mr Lansley was accused by Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb of agreeing, during their abortive talks, that a compulsory levy was an option that had to be considered.
He added: "There's no point going to this conference if there isn't a basic consensus on that issue." "Andrew's not being straight with people on this, because it was specifically recognised that there were both compulsory and voluntary options, and Andrew included that in his own draft statement of principles, and that's one of the key issues that we have to resolve," Mr Lamb told The Politics Show.
The Tories have proposed a voluntary levy instead, which would guarantee free personal care. "Then it suddenly becomes the issue that results in the Tories abandoning the process and going for a very aggressive form of advertising."
'Desperate' Labour leaflet
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. He added: "I believe this has been under planning for some time and I think Andrew was genuinely trying to engage in discussion with the two of us about a really important reform.
"And I think he's been undermined by (Tory communications chief) Andy Coulson, David Cameron or whoever, and there is a divide within the Conservative Party which has prevented Andrew pursuing what was a really important attempt to build consensus."
Mr Lansley insisted this was "not true".
HAVE YOUR SAYAfter a lifetime of paying taxes our elderly deserve state-funded care. It should be paid for by reducing the benefits bill Mr Jones, Wales Send us your commentsHAVE YOUR SAYAfter a lifetime of paying taxes our elderly deserve state-funded care. It should be paid for by reducing the benefits bill Mr Jones, Wales Send us your comments
But attempts at a consensus broke down and the Tories accused Labour of planning a £20,000 "death tax" to pay for social care. He said the statement the three health spokesmen had drawn up after their two meetings had set out clearly that there were "differences".
A Conservative campaign poster featuring a gravestone with the slogan "RIP off" was denounced by Mr Burnham as "grubby and desperate". "They (Labour) wanted a compulsory levy - a death tax - and I don't," he said.
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. He also insisted there had been no agreement to suspend party political campaigning during the cross party talks, which he had initiated.
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. The Conservatives have circulated copies of a local Labour leaflet, sent on behalf of Labour's Bolton North East MP David Crausby and apparently distributed last week, which accused the Tories of scrapping the government's care plans.
But Mr Lansley admitted the "RIP" poster about Labour's plans had been based on a story in the Guardian newspaper, which had been denied by the government.
He denied it had been a pre-planned assault on the government, saying the poster had been "turned round" by Tory HQ within 24 hours of the story appearing in the newspaper.
'Lot to learn'
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.
And Shadow Education Secretary Michael Gove has also weighed in, with a personal attack on Andy Burnham.
Mr Gove, who is two years younger than the health secretary and has been an MP for less time, told BBC One's Andrew Marr programme Mr Burnham was a "young politician, idealistic, but he has a lot to learn."
The Tories have proposed a voluntary levy instead, which would guarantee free personal 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".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."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".