Boris Johnson Is Facing A Growing Backlash From The Public Over Proposed Increases In Social Care Taxes
As he faces a rising red wall rebellion over tax rises, Boris Johnson will tell mutinous MPs that the healthcare system is in danger and that they "cannot expect it to recover alone."
One Conservative frontbencher told the Guardian that they were debating their position on a proposed national insurance increase to pay a social care overhaul and address the NHS backlog.
They questioned why they should serve in a government that was not pursuing the Conservative agenda for 2019, with a second vow, the triple lock on pensions, also due to be breached. A number of former Labour red wall MPs expressed concern that the tax rise will disproportionately affect workers in their constituencies while leaving retirees unaffected.
The prime minister will argue on Tuesday that the tax increase, which could earn up to £10 billion a year by increasing national insurance contributions (NICs) for companies and employees by 1.25 percent, is necessary to address the NHS waiting list situation.
In the long run, after a patient exceeds a cost cap, estimated to be around £80,000, cash will be used for social care expenditures. Anyone with assets of more than £23,350 pays in full for their care under the existing system, and one in every seven persons pays more than £100,000.
Plans for the new social care and NHS funding package, which Johnson will give to cabinet on Tuesday and then make a speech to parliament, were signed off on Monday night after much cabinet bickering.
On Monday night, cabinet ministers had not seen the plan, implying that the approval would be quick. At a joint news conference, Johnson, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and the health secretary, Sajid Javid, will present the strategy.
The prime minister will warn MPs ahead of the announcement that the NHS is in danger. "The NHS is the glory of our country, but the pandemic has put it under tremendous strain." "We can't expect it to rebound on its own," Johnson said in remarks made public tonight.
"We must act immediately to ensure that the health and care system gets the long-term resources it requires to continue battling Covid and begin addressing backlogs, as well as to reduce the inequity of social care expenses."
