London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Ministers mull national insurance rise to fund social care

Ministers mull national insurance rise to fund social care

Boris Johnson refuses to recommit to Tory manifesto promise not to raise taxes
Ministers are considering a national insurance rise – described as a social care and health levy – in order to overhaul the UK’s social care system, as Boris Johnson refused to recommit to the Tory manifesto promise not to raise taxes.

The prime minister declined to reassert the pledge not to raise income tax or national insurance when asked about plans for tax hikes at the Downing Street press conference on Monday. Johnson hinted a proposed offer was imminent, saying: “It won’t be too long, I assure you,” though Whitehall sources have suggested no deal has been reached.

No 10 and the Treasury have also examined plans for an income tax rise on over-40s, but one government source said plans had moved away from that in recent days because of concerns the rise would need to be substantial in order to meet the costs.

Rishi Sunak is understood to have been clear that any potential tax rise must be agreed and announced at the same time as the new policy on care costs, likely to include a lifetime cap at a level yet to be agreed. One Whitehall source said that made it less likely the agreement could get over the line before the summer recess.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt backed an income tax rise on Monday, which he called a health and care premium, saying a 1% rise would generate £6bn in income that would help tackle catastrophic hospital backlogs and other healthcare needs.

Whitehall sources suggested ministers were leaning towards a national insurance rise, but either would break the spirit of the Conservative “triple tax lock” manifesto promise, though the rebrand might help sell the policy to MPs.

Increasing national insurance by 1p for employees and the self-employed would raise around £6bn a year, according to calculations by the Resolution Foundation.

Hunt, who chairs the health select committee, said there was “a growing realisation that with the Covid backlog we’ll never get the NHS back on its feet without social care reform”.

He said there were other options to raise money for the exchequer but none were particularly palatable. The concept of a social care precept already exists for council tax, with local authorities permitted by the Treasury to use it to raise money. Hunt said removing the cap was a possibility, but said “soaring council tax bills to pay for social care” would affect public support.

He said removing the exemption for pensioners to pay national insurance would be unpopular and only raise half a billion pounds a year.

“The attraction of a health and social care levy is it would fund the NHS backlog in the short term and desperately needed improvements in the social care system in the medium-longer term,” Hunt tweeted. “It would also be transparent about the need for resources and capacity in both sectors.

“A health and care premium is the most honest solution, with a sensible debate on whether we’ll fund the new dementia drugs on the way, make our cancer survival rates as good as Denmark/Australia – and proper social care – and how much that’s about funding [versus] innovation/efficiency.”

One source close to the discussions said putting the increase on national insurance would put the government at risk of accusations that it was putting a penalty on younger working people and particularly low earners. “It’s definitely on the table, but it does target those hit hardest by the pandemic,” the source said.

The Treasury has traditionally opposed hypothecated taxes, where tax rises are announced with the revenue determined for a specific department, but Sunak is said to be reconciled to branding any rise destined to tackle social care.

Treasury and No 10 sources said there was still no timetable for the announcement, which has been widely expected this week, promising only that a plan would be set out by the end of the year.

Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “Tax rises will be needed to deliver decent social care, but a national insurance rise is a terrible way to raise the funds required. It’s a tax disproportionately loaded on to younger and lower-paid workers, compared to a fairer rise in income tax.

“Why we would target a tax rise on the groups who have been hardest hit by the economic impact of this pandemic, while exempting older and wealthy individuals, is completely beyond me.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×