Andy Burnham took a major gamble with Labour’s electoral prospects yesterday.
The Prime Minister pledged to scrap the pension triple lock, revisit Brexit and replace Britain’s first-past-the-post voting system.
In a seismic first address to Labour’s annual conference, Mr Burnham said he wanted to “break the mould” of British politics and overturn the legacy of Thatcherism.
He promised to abolish the triple lock, which has safeguarded the value of the state pension, helping to fund a National Care Service providing social care.
The PM became emotional and fought back tears as he dedicated the policy to his father, Roy, who died this month after spending his final days in a care home with Alzheimer’s.
The proposed attack on the triple lock would leave pensioners £15billion a year worse off by the end of the next decade.
However, government sources admitted that unspecified tax increases would also be needed to help finance the ambitious plan.
Sources also acknowledged that the new service would cover personal care but not residential costs. As a result, some Britons could still be forced to sell their homes to pay for care in later life.
Andy Burnham pledged to scrap the pension triple lock, revisit Brexit and replace Britain’s voting system in his first speech to Labour’s annual conference
The PM said Labour would contest the next election on a promise to abolish Britain’s first-past-the-post voting system
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said last night that scrapping the triple lock in 2030 would be a “first step”. She also conceded that the social care plan “could require additional funding” through the tax system.
Mr Burnham also unveiled plans to reverse Brexit, arguing that leaving the European Union had caused “more harm than good”.
A range of “options” for Britain’s future relationship with Brussels will be published before the two sides meet later this autumn.
Those proposals are expected to include closer ties such as joining the single market and customs union, as well as the possibility of rejoining the EU.
In the third major reform announced in his speech, the PM said Labour would fight the next election on a pledge to scrap Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system.
A national commission on electoral reform will draw up a replacement system, which would then be included in Labour’s next manifesto.
The move would represent the biggest overhaul of Britain’s electoral system in more than a century.
Electoral reform is supported by the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, and could pave the way for a succession of “rainbow coalitions” that would make it harder for the Right to return to power.
The scale of the pledges, together with repeated references to the next Parliament, fuelled fresh speculation last night that Mr Burnham could be preparing for an election next year.
Kemi Badenoch accused the Prime Minister of trying to “take Britain back to the 1970s”.
The Conservative leader added: ‘[It was] a time of more government control, more trade union control and no economic growth.
‘There is a reason our country took a different course after that decade. Nothing Burnham announced will do anything to fix Britain’s long-term problems.
‘He had no plan to fix our stagnant economy. No plan to fund defence. No plan to sort out the spiralling welfare bill, beyond more government schemes.’
On a dramatic day:
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- Mr Burnham said he would never introduce ‘crude cuts’ to reduce the welfare bill;
- The PM warned that the ‘broken’ social care system would ‘break the NHS’ unless it is reformed;
- A YouGov poll put Reform ahead of Labour by a narrow margin for the first time since summer;
- Mr Burnham said the privatised water industry ‘stinks’ and announced he would overhaul the sector, including by cracking down on bonuses.
The PM told the conference in Liverpool he would unpick the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, including scrapping the Right to Buy for new council houses.
He pledged to ‘make a break with the direction of the last 40 years’, including greater state control of water, energy and housing.
Mr Burnham acknowledged that his reforms would not be universally popular but appealed to voters to give him a hearing.
‘I accept I may pay a political price,’ he admitted. ‘But someone has to go through the pain barrier and rip the plaster off.’
The PM said he wanted to ‘bring back hope’, revive a spirit of ‘working class aspiration’ and allow Britain to ‘rise again’.
The nakedly Left-wing agenda delighted MPs on Labour’s hard-Left Socialist Campaign Group, with some even joking that they were ‘considering disbanding’ as their work was done.
Nigel Farage said Mr Burnham had no mandate for the changes and urged him to call an election now.
‘By potentially scrapping the triple lock, Andy Burnham will abdicate his responsibility to British pensioners,’ the Reform UK leader said.
‘Instead of cutting our bloated benefits bill, stopping migrants from accessing benefits or slashing foreign aid, he’s considering launching an offensive against our elderly.’
Dennis Reed, of the campaign group Silver Voices, said Labour would face a major backlash from older voters, describing the triple lock plan as ‘the winter fuel payment on stilts’.
But sources insisted older people would continue to benefit from the ‘highest state pension in history’.
Under the terms of the triple lock, which was introduced in 2011, the state pension rises by whichever is the highest of inflation, earnings or 2.5 per cent.
Under Labour’s new plan, the direct link with earnings will be lost, leaving the pension rising by either inflation or 2.5 per cent.
Government sources said a separate mechanism would ensure the pension does not fall below 30 per cent of average earnings over time.
Mr Burnham claimed the change would ‘generate significant savings’ to build up his National Care Service.
READ MORE:
Triple lock raid to cost OAPs £15billion: Burnham savaged by union chief for hitting poorest to help pay for care reforms
DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Who pays for PM’s new Jerusalem?
ANALYSIS: The PM had plenty to say about his family… but said little on welfare reform or raising defence spending
Coalitions of chaos are on the cards after PM pledges to change the voting system
QUENTIN LETTS: I am sorry to be beastly but there were moments in this speech when sugar levels were so high, they gave me diabetic twinges
NIGEL FARAGE: The State pension is not a handout. To break the contract with retirees now is a betrayal
More than a socialist, our new PM is a sentimentalist – driven to this wild lurch to the Left by an adolescent loathing of Mrs Thatcher
