克洛伊·查普莱恩英国首相安迪·伯纳姆表示，他将提出征收新税费的具体方案，用于资助改革后的社会照护服务。
By Chloe Chaplain UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has signaled he will set out proposals to introduce new levies to pay for a reformed social care service.
伯纳姆确认，他希望老年和体弱者的照护服务遵循英国国民医疗服务体系的原则，这意味着该服务与英国国民医疗服务体系一样，使用时完全免费。他没有否认这需要通过增税来筹措资金，并表示：“现阶段，任何方案都在考虑范围内。”这位英国首相表示，他不接受卫生基金会的估算。该机构估算，在英格兰提供免费社会照护服务每年将增加180亿英镑（238亿美元）的成本，使政府当前支出增加约50%。但他说，他预计所有人都应为这项政策的成本分担一份。
Burnham confirmed he wanted care for the elderly and infirm to operate “on NHS principles,” meaning it would be universally free at the point of use like the country’s National Health Service. He did not deny that would be paid for with tax increases, saying: “Nothing is off the table at this moment in time.” The UK premier said he rejected estimates from The Health Foundation that suggest the bill for providing free social care across England would add £18 billion ($23.8 billion) a year, to increase current government expenditure by around 50%. But he said he would expect everyone to contribute to the cost of the policy.
在利物浦举行的政党年度大会开场发言中，伯纳姆承诺将在未来几天开始公布更多细节，并表示他会在下一次大选前向选民勾勒出一项全面计划。大选最迟必须于2029年8月前举行。在此期间，他承诺遵守工党的宣言承诺，即不提高所得税，也不提高雇员国民保险缴费税率。
Speaking at the start of his party’s annual conference in Liverpool, Burnham pledged that he would begin to give more detail in the coming days, saying he would outline a comprehensive plan to voters ahead of the next general election, which has to be held before August 2029. In the interim he pledged to maintain Labour’s manifesto commitments not to increase income tax or tax on employees’ national insurance contributions.
伯纳姆将对社会照护的改革描述为一项“预防性”政策，可能减少其他领域的医疗支出。
Burnham characterized the changes to social care as a “preventative” policy which could minimize health spending elsewhere.
谈到这一长期遭到忽视且颇具争议的政策领域时，伯纳姆认为，英国事实上已经存在一种“失智税”，因为老年人往往不得不花费数千英镑来支付自己的照护费用。他说：“所以，认为目前不存在任何成本的想法完全是错的。这只是让成本承担得更加公平，并将其分摊到全体人口身上。”
Alluding to the contentious nature of the long-ignored policy area, Burnham argued the UK already has a de-facto “dementia tax” because the elderly often have to pay thousands of pounds to cover their own costs. “So the idea that there isn’t already a cost is just wrong. It’s just making that cost fairer and spreading it across the population,” he said.
在接受英国广播公司采访时，伯纳姆一再拒绝表明他是否支持其前任基尔·斯塔默已经批准的伦敦希思罗机场第三条跑道扩建计划，并称机场扩建是伦敦方面的事务。
In the broadcast interview with the BBC, Burnham repeatedly declined to say whether he supported plans for a third runway at London’s Heathrow airport that were approved by his predecessor Keir Starmer, saying the expansion was a matter for London.
首相重申了一个乐观而不失诚实的理念，这一理念将贯穿该党持续至周三的大会。
The prime minister recapitulated a message of optimism inflected with honesty that will run through the party’s conference, which last through Wednesday.
“我来到这里是要有所作为，我来到这里是要结束英国自脱欧以来经历的十年停滞与分裂，”他承诺道。
“I am here to do something, I am here to end the decade of drift and division that we’ve had since Brexit,” he pledged.
他说，他希望选民们思考后明白：“我理解他在做什么，也明白他为什么那样说，而且我能看出，这是一条或许能把英国带向更好未来的道路。”
He said he wanted voters to be left thinking: “I understand what he’s doing, why he said that, and I can see that as a path that could take Britain to a better place.”