Labour is drawing up plans to offer all pensioners state-funded care in their homes, as Jeremy Corbyn attempts to steal a march from Boris Johnson on a key election issue, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.

Mr Corbyn's party is preparing to pledge "free personal care" for over-65s, after a similar policy was endorsed by a panel of influential peers, including two former chancellors.

Shadow ministers are even considering nationalising some care homes as part of a radical package of measures designed to show that Labour would tackle the social care crisis facing the country's aging population. One claimed that the record of homes run by "profit-making" organisations was "appalling".

The plans for free personal care - help with daily activities like washing, dressing and eating - are modelled on proposals by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), a left-wing think tank, which recommended in May that it should be funded by a 2 per cent income tax hike or by adding 1 per cent to national insurance payments.

In July the Lords Economic Affairs Committee, whose members included Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, a former Conservative cabinet minister, and Lord Lamont, the former chancellor, called for £7bn to be found to fund free personal care, starting with pensioners with substantial or critical needs. Lord Forsyth said the current system was “broken” and would “end in catastrophic failure” without significant investment.