Broadcaster and comedian Paul Cox hit back at Andy Burnham’s plans to tackle the social care crisis with higher taxes.
Andy Burnham has proposed an NHS-style social care service funded by everyone (Image: Getty)
The Labour government has been slammed following Andy Burnham’s proposals to address the social care crisis, which could result in potential tax increases. Kicking off a discussion with broadcaster and comedian Paul Cox on Sunday (27 September), host Cristo Foufas launched into a scathing rant.
“Just this idea that I’m going to work hard, I’m going to do everything right. I might buy a property, or I might try to pay off a mortgage. I might leave something to my children, or I might try to have a few savings… Doing the right thing and you’re penalised,” the journalist began.
“[However] you do nothing, you sit and don’t work, don’t buy a property, don’t have any ambition whatsoever, and you get it all anyway. Why are the people who do the right thing penalised?”
“Because every few electoral cycles or so, we end up with a Labour Government that does just that,” Cox replied. “Labour have decided there is a universal amount of money any individual should have, and anything else is up for grabs!
“By which I mean, by doing the right things: going to work, buying a property, being fortunate enough to live into your autumn years, perhaps you can enjoy some of that, and pass that on.
“Then, that becomes excess beyond what Labour believe you’re entitled to, and it is about entitlement because Labour will say, ‘Well, we can take that, and we can take that, and we’re gonna take this, and take this’, and they look at where all the excess is across people’s lives.
“Whether it’s in their jobs, their earnings on shares, or earnings on savings, or savings themselves, or property, everything is taxed to the nth degree, because socialism and communism are built without the individual in mind.
“It’s about sharing that. You can not have one or two people doing well because what about the others?” Cox concluded. Sparking agreement from Foufas, the host declared, “And that is why it becomes a race to the bottom.”
Burnham hasn’t ruled out tax increases (Image: Getty)
The on-air discussion took place just hours after Prime Minister Andy Burnham laid out his proposals for an NHS-style care service funded by everyone. Talking with BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg in an interview aired on Sunday, the PM stated that he would put forward a plan in the next general election “with a precise explanation of how it’s going to be funded, and the people will be in no doubt about it at all.”
Asked if his social reforms would require more tax, Burnham replied that just like with the NHS, “It would be a system of that kind where everyone contributes, everyone’s covered. But not precisely and necessarily in the same way that we currently pay for the NHS.”