Why Matt Hancock’s cross-party social care talks aren’t as promising as they sound

Does anyone really think the solution to the social care crisis will be found in cross-party talks? If you read the letter penned by Matt Hancock this afternoon, you might be forgiven for thinking that the Health Secretary is the one person who does. Hancock wrote to all MPs and peers ‘to begin the process of seeking to build a cross-party consensus on social care’.

He rightly observes that ‘since 1997, successive governments have tried and failed to find a long-term solution to funding social care’ – though he doesn’t mention that one of the bigger failures came when the Tories pulled their support for Labour’s social care plans in 2009. Hancock then insists – again rightly – that ‘we do not need another commission – we need action now, finally, to seek a solution that can support future generations’. The government, he writes, is committed to finding an agreement across the political spectrum.