MPs attack Matt Hancock for backing Boris' £8bn tax cut for rich rather than social care

Health secretary Matt Hancock found himself in hot water as he faced MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee, who attacked his failures with the words: “It’s your job. Why don’t you just do it?”

In a heated exchange in a committee room at Portcullis House yesterday, the health secretary was repeatedly asked where the country’s green paper for social care was and told people had been dying waiting for it.

Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP for Exeter, asked the minister: “It’s only a discussion document a green paper. Why don’t you just put it out? So that we can talk about it. You’re in government it’s your job… to come up with policy for everybody to consult on. Why don’t you just do it?”

During the accountability hearing, the former PM candidate said the green paper “won’t be published before the new Prime Minister is in place”.

Which do you prefer? Boris’ £8bn tax cut or £8bn for social care?

Mr Bradshaw then said: “The man that you are backing to be the next Prime Minister has promised as his priority a tax cut for the richest eight per cent of the population amounting to £8bn annually.

“That’s exactly the same figure that the Lords [Economic Affairs] committee and indeed we believe needs to go into social care to plug the gap.”

Asked whether his priority as health secretary would be a £8bn tax cut for the rich or the £8bn needed for social care, Mr Hancock, defended Boris Johnson.

Mr Hancock was a candidate to be Britain's next Prime Minister but dropped out of the Conservative leadership race to back Mr Johnson for PM.

He said: "Well, he’s also proposed solving the social care problem and made it clear that that will be a high priority for his administration.

“We need to both; reduce taxes when we can afford that and I’m delighted that Boris has made the clear pledge to tackle the problems of social care.”

Asked why the green paper hadn’t been published in the last two years, Mr Hancock said it had not got “the sort of cross-party support that is hugely helpful for projects like this”.

Mr Bradshaw then shot back: “You’re blaming other parties. You’re in government. You have a majority on paper with the DUP. You had a manifesto commitment. What evidence do you have that it’s other parties fault?”

Mr Hancock gave his example of how Damian Green’s social care reform report (published earlier this year) had been attacked by the Shadow Chancellor as a ‘tax on old people’.

“I regret it’s proved difficult to build the cross-party consensus more broadly”, the health secretary said.

His comments drew surprised looks from the Committee who mentioned a letter sent to Theresa May last year, signed by the Committee's Conservative Chair Sarah Wollaston and more than 90 MPs from across political parties.

The MPs had offered to work collaboratively to solve the social care crisis.

Referring to the letter’s offer, Paul Williams, Labour MP for Stockton South, said: “That offer wasn’t taken up. How can you say that this has been blocked because there hasn’t been cross-party collaboration?”

Mr Hancock said: “I wish we had been able to put something out. We have done better on the short-term funding issue…albeit one year to the next…than we have being able to bring forward proposals over the long term.”

With a Cabinet reshuffle expected once a new Prime Minister takes office, Committee Chair Sarah Wollaston asked: “If you’re no longer in your post in a couple of weeks’ time, what will be your advice to your successor?

The health secretary answered: “That’s another of those ‘if’ questions I try not to answer.

"I look forward to doing the job.”