Business leaders have slammed Boris Johnson’s pledge-breaking £12billion national insurance raid as a ‘kick in the teeth’ for Covid-hit firms – as the Prime Minister admitted he cannot rule out even more hikes.
In a bold package that could make or break his premiership, Mr Johnson is pushing up NI rates by 1.25 percentage points from April. A typical higher earner will be paying more than £700 extra.
Finally revealing his vision for social care in England, he said reform can no longer be ‘ducked’ and the elderly should not lose their life savings and homes due to the ‘bolt from the blue’ of dementia.
At a press conference alongside the Chancellor and Health Secretary, Mr Johnson argued that one in seven people now faced care costs of more than £100,000 and wider society needs to ‘share the risk’.
‘Everyone knows in their bones… we can’t now shirk the challenge of putting the NHS back on its feet,’ he said. Rishi Sunak insisted: ‘This is a permanent new role for the government. And as such we need a permanent new way to fund it.’
Business leaders today reacted with fury, saying the move will ‘dampen the entrepreneurial spirit needed to drive the recovery’.
