Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is right about one thing: social care reform demands serious thought. But she is wrong to insist that the answer cannot involve asking those with the broadest shoulders (the very richest) bear the biggest burden and contribute a bit more through taxation. If we are serious about fixing one of Britain’s greatest public policy failures, there will be a cost. We must be honest about that.
For me, this is not an abstract political argument. It is deeply personal.
In July 2022 my mum died two days after waiting eleven hours for an ambulance following a bad fall at home. Local ambulance crews were doing their best, I later learned, but many were trapped outside a local hospital because there were no beds available. Some of those beds were occupied by people medically fit to leave but unable to do so because there was no social care package for them at home or in the community. It was a whole system failure that left my beloved mum on her bedroom floor, in pain and distress, for hour after long hour.
That is what a broken social care system looks like. It harms older people, disabled people, unpaid carers, NHS staff and, ultimately, patients like my mum.
Andy Burnham is right to say the NHS cannot thrive without fixing social care and he’s due to set out his plans on the issue later this week. But I worry when I hear suggestions that we should wait for the (Louise) Casey Commission before meaningful action is taken. The Commission’s work is important, of course, yet the crisis is happening now. Every single day of delay means more cancelled operations, more patients waiting multiple hours for ambulances, more patients stuck in hospital unnecessarily and more families enduring avoidable suffering.
Of course long-term reform should be informed by evidence. But that should not prevent immediate investment in care workers, community care and local authority services while the wider reforms are developed.
As liberals, we believe in fairness. Fairness means protecting the most vulnerable, not pretending we can transform public services without paying for them. Those with the greatest wealth can and should contribute more if that is what it takes to build a social care system worthy of the name.
Prime Ministers are often remembered not for the crises they inherited but for whether they had the courage to confront them. On social care, Andy Burnham has an opportunity to succeed where successive governments have failed.
For the sake of families like mine, I hope he takes it.
A grown-up opposition for a new political era
Andy Burnham becoming the Prime Minister presents we Lib Dems with an opportunity to demonstrate political maturity. Our job is not to oppose for opposition’s sake. We can leave that to the Tories.
Instead, we should be guided by our values. Where the government pursues policies that advance fairness, strengthen public services, help mend our broken relationship with Europe, or tackle long-neglected challenges such as social care, we should be prepared to work constructively alongside it.
Equally, where ministers depart from liberal and social democratic principles, centralise power unnecessarily or erode rights and freedoms, we should be robust in our opposition.
Pluralism means recognising that good ideas are not the exclusive property of one party. It also means having the confidence to disagree without descending into tribalism.
Britain needs a serious, constructive Liberal Democrat opposition: principled when necessary, collaborative where possible, and always focused on the national interest.
Thank you – see you in September!
Thank you, as always, for reading, sharing and engaging with Mathew on Monday. Your support, encouragement and thoughtful debate mean a great deal. I’m taking my usual August break to recharge (including a few days in Paris… can’t wait!), and this column will return in September, for a brand new political season and, of course, for our own autumn conference.
Until then, have a wonderful summer, take care and see you soon.
Bye!
* Mathew Hulbert is a former Councillor, is a regular commentator on TV and Radio, and is Co-Host of the Political Frenemies podcast.