Robert Jenrick has called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to rule out future tax rises to pay for changes to adult social care in England. He says the money should instead come from cutting foreign aid and benefit payments for migrants.

Jenrick is Reform UK's Treasury spokesman and a former Conservative minister. He made the remarks at a press conference on 30 July 2026, where he urged Burnham to rule out what he called a "death tax" BBC News. The Daily Express reported that Jenrick vowed Reform UK would fight any such levy Daily Express.

The phrase has history. Burnham was health secretary under Gordon Brown, whose government proposed a compulsory charge that people could delay paying until after they had died. The Conservatives at the time called it a "death tax" BBC News. Burnham has said those 2009 plans were meant to stop people having to sell their homes to pay for care. He has not proposed bringing back a levy in that form BBC News.

Adult social care means help for older or disabled people with everyday tasks like washing, dressing and eating, often in care homes or in their own homes. Unlike NHS treatment, it is not free for everyone.

Jenrick also said Reform would stop visas for overseas care workers so that more British citizens could be hired instead. The BBC notes that Reform does not have a designated health spokesperson, so Jenrick, who covers Treasury matters, stepped into the social care debate directly BBC News. BBC Breakfast posted a video clip of his comments on Facebook, captioned with his quote: "We musn't raid people's savings to solve this problem" BBC Breakfast, Facebook.

Burnham has said fixing social care is a top priority. He has sped up a review of the system by Baroness Casey, now due to be published next summer. He told the BBC that the NHS "will collapse" without social care reform BBC News. The prime minister said he wanted to get more out of existing budgets "before we talk about tax rises" and pledged to work with Chancellor John Healey to boost care worker pay and training, "fully funded" from existing budgets BBC News.

The Conservative Party is pushing from another angle. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch wrote to Burnham urging him to rule out tax rises and further borrowing for social care. She called his plans a "spending spree" Peeblesshire News. Burnham held talks on social care with Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey and shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew, but Reform and the Green Party were not invited BBC News.

The rules around who gets help are stark. In England and Northern Ireland, people with savings over £23,250 are not entitled to council help with care costs BBC News. Social care policy is devolved, meaning Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each set their own rules. The £23,250 threshold applies in England and Northern Ireland.

The broader context here is that social care has defeated successive governments for nearly two decades. Burnham's personal link to the "death tax" label, from his time as health secretary under Brown, gives Jenrick's choice of words a particular edge. The Conservatives used the phrase successfully when they were in opposition; Reform UK is now reaching for the same weapon, betting that the public has no appetite for any new charge.

What has shifted is the party lineup. Burnham's decision to invite Davey and the Conservative shadow health secretary to talks, while leaving out Reform and the Greens, suggests he is trying to build a centrist coalition for reform and push Reform to the margins. Whether that works will depend on what Baroness Casey's review finds next summer, and on whether Burnham can show that existing budgets can stretch far enough to avoid the tax rises he has not yet ruled out.