Burnham promises 10-year plan before Christmas recess

LONDON — Andy Burnham said Wednesday that the government will publish its 10-year plan before the U.K. parliament goes into recess for the Christmas break on Dec. 17. Speaking in the Commons, the prime minister told MPs: “I am determined to give this country the stability that they [the Conservatives] failed to provide, I am determined to give the leadership that this country needs.” He said ministers will "present our plan for Britain to this house before it rises for the Christmas recess.”

Burnham's words follow speculation about the timing of the long-awaited document seen as pivotal to the government's agenda. The prime minister told the Economist last week there was no “firm landing zone” for its publication and “we may go into the new year, to be honest.” The Sunday Times reported the document will be divided into three sections — “growing up,” “getting on” and “growing old” — focused on the government's role throughout people's lives.

Burnham told MPs the plan will come before the Commons next month and “lay a new path for this country, breaking with the failed policies of the party opposite.” He added that “it will lay a path for this country to go forward.” The prime minister said the plan will contain a “proposal for a national care service” and that cross-party talks on adult social care will take place “before the end of the year.”