Stroud MP Dr Simon Opher has backed Andy Burnham’s call for a different political direction for Britain, highlighting a proposed National Care Service as a policy that could make a major difference to people across the constituency.
Writing in a Stroud Times column, Dr Opher said he attended Mr Burnham’s speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool last week. He said the central argument was that Labour should be willing to break clearly with the political approach of the past 50 years.
Dr Opher said Mr Burnham had linked deregulation, privatisation and austerity with falling living standards and a movement of power and wealth away from communities. He added that the analysis would “resonate in Stroud”, while warning that a political argument would matter only if it led to changes people could experience in their daily lives.
Proposed National Care Service
The policy commitment that most excited Dr Opher was a plan to establish a National Care Service in the next Parliament. He described the proposal as being based on the principles of the NHS, with care provided free at the point of use.
According to the MP, the service would be intended to protect people’s homes and savings from care costs while recognising the contribution made by carers. He said it would affect the 25,000 people of pensionable age living in the constituency, as well as people who live with or care for them.
Dr Opher also argued that a national approach to care could reduce pressure on the NHS and on services he described as fractured. The column did not set out a timetable for the proposed service or explain how it would be funded.
Wider programme
Mr Burnham’s speech also covered housing, water, energy, young people, relations with Europe and democratic reform, according to Dr Opher.
The wider message, as presented by the Stroud MP, was that previous governments had transferred wealth and power away from the public. He said the answer was to take back control of essential services and national assets, returning them to the people who use them and live in the communities affected.
Dr Opher welcomed the direction of travel but said the next test was delivery. His conclusion was that residents need to feel the benefit of the proposals rather than hear only the analysis behind them.
The column was published by Stroud Times under the headline “Dr Simon Opher MP: Why Labour must deliver a different direction for Britain under Andy Burnham”. The page displays an update date of October 5, 2026, and a byline date of October 6, 2026.
