Shropshire MPs welcome National Insurance hike

On Tuesday Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed a 1.25 per cent rise in National Insurance – which would mean somebody on the average wage of about £30,000 a year would pay an extra £255 in tax.

The new tax, coming into effect in April next year, is expected to raise an extra £12 billion a year for health and social care.

Mr Johnson said it meant nobody would need to pay more than £86,000 towards the cost of adult social care.

But over the first three years, just £5.3 billion is forecast to be spent on social care, with the remainder being used to clear the backlog of NHS cases.

Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski said he was fully supportive of the proposals, and had been lobbying the Prime Minister for a long time.

Mr Kawczynski said Shropshire had an ageing population, and believed there was a moral obligation to improve the standard of care for elderly people.

He said: "Adult social care costs are rising by over £15 million every year in Shropshire, placing huge financial pressures on Shropshire Council."

"Any Christian community is judged by the way it treats its elderly, and a number of cases have been highlighted where the care received by elderly people has not been commensurate with what we would expect for our own family members."

Mr Kawczynski said while no Conservative MP wanted to put up taxes, most people recognised the economic impact of the pandemic left few alternatives.

Ludlow MP Philip Dunne, a former health minister, said he was glad the Government was finally tackling the problem.

"In South Shropshire we have a significantly more elderly population than the county or the country as a whole," he said.

"Funding care costs is a huge challenge, and all governments in recent decades have promised to sort out the current funding crisis facing the care sector.

"I am pleased the Government has decided to tackle this issue as promised."

Mr Dunne said while he was always reluctant to see an increase in tax, the coronavirus had left a huge backlog in medical cases and a large hole in the public finances.

"The health and care levy proposed seeks to address both challenges in a transparent way which the public can understand," he said.

"While no tax increase is welcome, in these extraordinary circumstances I think it can be justified."

Telford MP Lucy Allan also welcomed the announcement.

“NHS and social care will now receive a massive increase in funding to deal with the backlog caused by the pandemic and to increase capacity going forward," she said.

"The Prime Minister is right to tackle this problem head on. People fully understand the need for an additional contribution to health and social care at this time.

"The Prime Minister has acknowledged the rise in national insurance will break a manifesto commitment, although I think my constituents will understand that nobody could have foreseen the pandemic or its impacts on our economy and the health and care services."

Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, said there may be public support for a tax designated specifically for social care.

"Putting aside the rights and wrongs of new tax rises, there needs to be a plan," he said.

Mr Pritchard said any plan needed to involve local councils and NHS leaders, and not just MPs.