Making social care the defining issue of the next general election guarantees Burnham cannot go early

Making social care the defining issue of the next general election guarantees Burnham cannot go early Political editor David Maddox looks at how Andy Burnham’s plan to make reforming social care the centrepiece of the next election changes everything - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in Andy Burnham's appearance on Laura Kuenssberg's Sunday morning show on BBC was a classic in the style of our new prime minister at the start of his first Labour conference in the role. A lot of style but where was the substance? However, his one big revelation almost certainly ensured that there will not be an early general election. Among friends in Liverpool at his first conference as Labour leader and prime minister he appeared completely relaxed and at his most ebullient. That desperately uncomfortable image of him sitting beside Donald Trump seemed a long way away. With Ms Kuenssberg there was lots of empathy, great presentation and plenty of direction of travel - but very little in hard detail, particularly on how he will pay for things. A lot of “wait for my speech on Tuesday”. Certainly it sounds like it will be a long speech, given how much he intends to put in it. But there was a general reluctance to get nailed down on anything. He even hesitated to call the far right activist Danny Tommo a racist, despite the sinister masked protests and dreadful language he has used. Worryingly he could not commit to a third runway at Heathrow, something the markets will be taking a lot of notice of. And he could not say if he would get the welfare bill down or if he would raise taxes. This is why the cost of UK debt has gone up even more since he became prime minister. But under some excellent questioning the prime minister did reveal one important thing - he plans to fight the next election on a plan to overhaul social care in England and Wales. The new PM could not hide that this would come through taxation for a country that is already highly taxed although he was vague which ones. Interestingly, his admission also rules out an early election because he will need time to put his plan together. To be fair he has said he will not be having an early election but now we know why. Mr Burnham more than any politician knows from his experience of "death tax" allegations in 2009 that he will be taking a risk. Theresa May also ran aground on the issue in 2017. He feels passionately about this issue because of his late father's experience with Alzheimer's. But by making this admission he probably has guaranteed there will not be cross party consensus on social care. If it is defining the next election then for all hos talk of doing politics differently other parties will not dance to his tune and probably ruthlessly use his plans against him. After all, they want to win. So given all that, the stakes could not be higher and Mr Burnham will be taking a brave but huge gamble. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments