Boris Johnson vowed to level up but hiking National Insurance is levelling down

FINDING the billions to pay for vital social care is one of the thorniest political problems of the age.

I pay tribute to Prime Minister Boris Johnson for having the balls to come up with a plan. But his mooted idea to raise National Insurance contributions is the WRONG plan.

As Chairman of the Northern Research Group of MPs, I look to get a fair deal for the North.

I believe the reported 1.25 per cent National Insurance increase would put the Government’s levelling up agenda into reverse.

Across the Red Wall of former Labour seats that have turned Conservative blue there is real concern on the impact on this proposed tax hike.

It smacks of inter-generational unfairness, because NI is a job tax paid by people who are in work. Pensioners don’t pay NI.

The NI hike is effectively asking workers in the North — where house prices are lower — to toil so retired pensioners in Surrey can pass on million-pound homes to their children.

I don’t oppose people passing assets on to the next generation. That is human nature, we want to give our kids the best possible chance in life. But I don’t think a jobs tax on NI is a fair way of letting people keep their homes while also getting decent social care.

Young working families such as those in my Rossendale & Darwen constituency, who struggle to pay their mortgages and put shoes on their kids’ feet, will be paying for the care of wealthy pensioners who don’t pay NI.

That is inherently unfair. It is the opposite of this Government’s levelling up agenda. It’s levelling down.

Many of those who may be asked to give more to the Government from their pay packet have already made huge sacrifices during the pandemic. Some have lost their jobs, others have taken huge cuts in income.

The proposed extra billions from a NI rise will mean there will be a cap on how much pensioners have to pay for their social care.

It is a way of avoiding former PM Theresa May’s so-called “dementia tax” proposal, which would have taken people’s properties into account in the means test for social care at home.

That proposal led to fears that people would have to sell their properties, which they naturally wanted to pass on to their children. Unfortunately, there has already been a stealth tax for social care.

In 2016, then Communities Secretary Sajid Javid allowed Council Tax bills to rise by three per cent to pay for the care of the elderly. We don’t need another tax by the back door like that one.

In any case, the vast majority of the extra cash they hope to raise with the new tax rise won’t actually pay for immediate upgrades in social care.

The NHS needs fundamental reform

It will go to the NHS and, while we all want to support our health system, just throwing money at the problem isn’t the answer. The NHS needs fundamental reform to make sure it is fit for the future.

The Government is breaking a firm pledge from its 2019 General Election manifesto, which promised no new taxes.

I was sitting around the Cabinet table when Sajid Javid — then Chancellor of the Exchequer — proposed this “no new taxes lock”. Now he is Health Secretary he seems to have had a change of heart.

It is true that social care is a crucial issue that must be funded properly. Those who say NI is the wrong way to pay for it must come up with an alternative.

Labour leader Sir Keir “Unclear” Starmer has come out against the hike but weakly offered no alternatives. He is the man with no plan.

What would I do? I believe it’s time for the Government to level with the British people and talk about the real funding needs of health and social care. And the Government should promise them there will be no more stealth tax such as the Council Tax precept and a NI rise, hoping voters won’t notice.

I believe the answer is to raise Income Tax — which is paid by everyone, including pensioners. A Windfall Tax on online trading platforms, such as Amazon and eBay, could also be levied to pay for a one-off booster to the NHS to help it catch up after the pandemic.

This Government promised to level up. Stay true to that pledge!

Jake Berry

Labour PM Tony Blair levied a similar tax on privatised utilities in 1997 to pay for a welfare-to-work programme. Social care is one of the grand challenges of current politics and one that it is absolutely right that the Government sets about addressing.

An unfair jobs tax that will hit working families in the North is the wrong choice, I hope the Government thinks again.

This Government promised to level up. Stay true to that pledge!

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