London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Social care tax rise: Boris Johnson wins Commons vote

Social care tax rise: Boris Johnson wins Commons vote

MPs have voted 319 to 248 for a 1.25 percentage point rise in National Insurance for workers and employers to help fund health and social care.

Boris Johnson hopes the tax increase, which breaks a Conservative manifesto pledge, will raise £12bn a year.

The prime minister said his plan would deal with "catastrophic costs" faced by those who need care.

But Labour raised concerns that people could still have to sell their home in order to pay for the help they need.

During a House of Commons debate, some Conservative MPs also raised objections to the proposals.

Former minister Steve Baker called on his party to "rediscover what it stands for" rather than "every time there is a squeeze on the public finances, coming back for higher taxes".

Opposition MPs voted against the rise but the government, which has a majority of more than 80, comfortably won the vote.

Five Conservatives - Sir Christopher Chope, Philip Davies, Neil Hudson, Esther McVey and John Redwood - voted against the changes.

Thirty-seven Conservative MPs abstained. However, while some abstained due to concerns about the tax rise, others may simply been given permission to miss the vote.

Health and care proposals


Politicians have long agreed on the need to reform England's social care system, which helps older and working-age people with high care needs to carry out tasks such as washing, dressing, eating and taking medication.

The key proposals of the new plan are:

*  People will no longer pay more than £86,000 in care costs - not including food and accommodation - over their lifetime, from October 2023
*  Once people have reached this cap, ongoing costs for personal care will be paid for by local authorities
*  Those with between £20,000 and £100,000 in assets will get means-tested help towards costs from their local council
*  Those with less than £20,000 will not have to pay towards care costs from their assets at all, but might have to contribute from their income
*  The tax will be raised through a 1.25 percentage point rise in National Insurance - which working people and their employers pay - from next April
*  Income from share dividends - earned by those who own shares in companies - will also see a 1.25% tax rate increase
*  The NI rise will cost £255 a year for someone earning £30,000, and £505 a year for someone on £50,000, the government says

Currently workers pay 12% National Insurance on earnings between £9,564 and £50,268. However, anything earned above this amount attracts a rate of just 2%.

Mr Johnson has said the majority of the £36bn fund raised by the tax rise will go towards catching up on the backlog in the NHS created by Covid.

A smaller portion of the money - £5.4bn over the next three years - will also go towards changes to the social care system, with more promised after that.

The UK-wide tax will be focused on funding health and social care in England, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will also receive an additional £2.2bn to spend on their services.

From 2023, the increase in National Insurance will become a separate levy, while the National Insurance rates will return to their previous level.


Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said that under Mr Johnson's plan "someone with a house worth £186,000 would still have to pay £86,000 even with this cap - and that's before living costs of going into a care home."

"How does the chancellor suggest they pay those fees without selling their home?" she asked.

Along with Labour, the SNP also voted against the government's proposals, with its Westminster leader Ian Blackford accusing the Conservatives of "taxing Scottish workers twice" and "forcing them to pay the bill for social care in England as well as at home in Scotland".

And Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the prime minister had failed to come up with a plan to tackle care staff vacancies or help unpaid family carers.

Conservative MP Jake Berry was among the critical voices from the government's own backbench, warning ministers that "throwing other people's money down a bottomless pit doesn't become a good idea if you put the NHS logo next to it".

Mr Johnson sought to reassure his own MPs ahead of the vote, telling a meeting of backbenchers: "We should never forget we are the party of low taxation."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
×