Boris Johnson appears to have rebuffed calls for a proposed National Insurance hike in April to be scrapped.
Senior Conservatives, including former Brexit secretary David Davis, have called for the proposed increase of 1.25 percentage points to be axed due to cost of living pressures.
But the Prime Minister has suggested he will stick with proposals to increase national insurance in April, arguing that “if you want to fund our fantastic NHS, we have to pay for it”.
Asked by broadcasters after a visit to Milton Keynes Hospital whether the rise would go ahead in the face of cost of living pressures, Boris Johnson said: “The NHS has done an amazing job but it has been under terrible strain.
“Listen to what I’m saying: We’ve got to put that money in. We’ve got to make that investment in our NHS.
“What I’m telling people is, if you want to fund our fantastic NHS, we have to pay for it – and this Government is determined to do so.”
The increase in NI contributions to to pay for social care was described as “the right thing to do” by a Cabinet minister this morning.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “On the national insurance, the £36 billion is necessary because successive governments… of every colour have not dealt with this.
“It is really important to remember that the highest earners, the 14% who earn the most are paying 50% – they are paying half of that contribution, and the lowest earners, 6.1 million of the lowest earners pay nothing, so it is as progressive as we can make it to deal with a problem that breaks many an individual in their old age.
“So it is really important to just focus on why we are doing this, why I think it is the right thing to do, because it will finally create a system of adult social care that is sustainable and deliverable without breaking families.”
