Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves says Labour IS willing to hike taxes to fix the nation’s social care crisis as she blasts Boris Johnson for failing to grasp the issue and accuses him of ‘letting down the people of this country’
- Rachel Reeves said Labour willing to have ‘difficult conversations’ on social care
- Shadow chancellor said that includes looking at whether tax rises are needed
- She accused Boris Johnson of ‘letting down the people of this country’ on issue
Rachel Reeves today said Labour is willing to hike taxes to fix the nation’s social care crisis.
The shadow chancellor said the party is ‘willing to have those difficult conversations’ about how to put the social care sector onto a sustainable footing.
Ms Reeves blasted Boris Johnson for failing to deliver on a promise he made on the steps of Number 10 when he first became prime minister to address the issue as she accused him of ‘letting down the people of this country’.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves today said Labour is willing to hike taxes to fix the nation’s social care crisis
Mr Johnson said in his first speech as premier on July 24, 2019 that ‘we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve’.
But the Government is yet to publish a plan and the PM is under mounting pressure to finally act on the issue.
He faced fierce criticism in May this year when he failed to include a strategy in the Queen’s Speech. The address contained just nine words on the subject as the Government simply committed to bringing forward proposals.
The Tories pledged in their 2019 general election manifesto ‘to urgently seek a cross-party consensus’ on social care reform and the ‘prerequisite of any solution will be a guarantee that no one needing care has to sell their home to pay for it’.
Reports earlier this year suggested that a fix had been delayed because of a row over funding between Number 10 and the Treasury.
Ms Reeves said Labour would be willing to put up taxes to pay for social care reform.
She told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘I want to see a publicly-funded, needs-based social care system… the better state that social care is, the better for our National Health Service.
‘And we are willing to have those difficult conversations about how we pay for those things.
‘I have been in my job for two months, it is high up on my list of things that have got to be sorted and explained ahead of the next election.
Ms Reeves blasted Boris Johnson for failing to deliver on a promise he made on the steps of Number 10 when he first became prime minister to address the issue as she accused him of ‘letting down the people of this country’
‘But the Prime Minister has been in his job for two years and on the steps of Downing Street when he became Prime Minister he said that we have a plan for social care that is already prepared.
‘Well, where is it because it is letting down the people of this country. People in social care have been so badly treated by this Government the last year and a half and they are owed something better than what this Government are delivering today.’
Pushed on whether she conceded that taxes may have to rise, Ms Reeves replied: ‘We are willing to look at how you fund it… including looking at what taxes may be needed to pay for it.’
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