He’s brave, I’ll give him that. Social care reform is the ultimate political swamp, sucking in all who venture there. In 1997, Tony Blair told the Labour Party Conference that it needed to be addressed “urgently”. Since then, we’ve had 22 attempts to reform the sector, and all have sunk into oblivion. Boris Johnson and Theresa May floundered in its boggy depths. Probably the only wise political decision Keir Starmer made as PM was to abandon the subject altogether (then blunder into bogs of his own making). What on Earth is Burnham thinking?

Whether he’s mad, naive, daft or a dreamer, he’s taking a huge risk. If it all goes wrong, he could end up stuck in the mud, his bright start spattered and befouled. But what if he gets it right? History suggests his chances are slim, but you never know. Even then, he won’t get the glory because whatever fix he introduces, it’s going to cost us all an awful lot of money.

And this is a problem that desperately needs fixing. Almost two million older people in England are living with unmet social care needs, struggling with basic tasks such as dressing, bathing and getting out of bed. The system is also piling pressure on the NHS, with people stuck in hospital when they could be cared for at home. Burnham says the NHS could collapse without reform. He has a point.

The problem is paying for it. One option is a 10% levy on estates when people die. That’s already been branded a “death tax”, and could cost the average homeowner £75,000, according to Reform UK. Another suggestion is a 1.8% tax on workers.

Both have big drawbacks. The first could hammer families who’ve spent decades building up a home and savings, and already pay inheritance tax at a hefty 40%. The second would hit younger workers already struggling with low wages and the cost of living. And the bill will keep rising as the nation ages and demand grows.

Taxes are already at record highs, yet we’re being asked to pay more for a service many of us may never need. Meanwhile, the state is already groaning under the weight of spending, and is set to borrow another £130 billion this year. An NHS-style social care system could cost an extra £18.5 billion a year by 2035. That’s a colossal sum, and it will only climb as the population gets older and sicker. We have other big spending needs, too. Like defence.

Burnham will have to make tough decisions elsewhere. Like cut welfare spending or scrap the state pension triple lock. This is what makes social care such a nightmare. Everyone wants to solve it, but nobody can agree on how.

Burnham is hoping to win support from the other parties. Good luck with that. He’s already stumbled into a row with Nigel Farage by excluding Reform from his talks. If you’re trying to build national consensus, shutting out today’s most popular political party isn’t the ideal place to start.

Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party may feel it owes Burnham nothing. Former Tory PM Theresa May’s 2017 social care proposals were branded a “dementia tax” and turned into a toxic electoral issue. Why should the Tories rally to Burnham when Labour has exploited this issue before?

Burnham believes in himself, and he’s trying to bring an optimistic glow to British politics. That’s not a bad thing. When Starmer and Reeves kicked off by moaning about the mess they’d inherited and all the taxes they’d have to hike, they destroyed their project overnight.

Burnham wants to avoid that trap, but he can’t plug an £18.5billion hole with optimism alone. He needs cash, and he has to get it from taxpayers. As I said, Burnham is being brave. That’s the word Sir Humphrey-style Whitehall civil servants use when they really mean stark, staring mad.