CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST OVER TAX INCREASES

OVER two years ago, on the steps of Downing Street, Boris Johnson said he had a clear plan to fix social care once and for all.

Two years later, there is still no plan, and councils up and down the country have had no choice but to balance their budgets by, for example, charging for the collection of green waste and cutting back on weed clearance etc.

In the 2019 election, the Tories promised no increase in National Insurance, income tax or VAT. Now, the chickens have come home to roost, Boris’s plan looks like it is finally seeing the light of day, and to pay for social care the Tories plan to ignore the election promise and increase National Insurance or income tax after all.

This would, however, mean that the cost of fixing social security would fall hardest on those who have least – NI is paid on all earnings above £184 a week but those who benefit most from social care, the elderly, would contribute almost nothing as National Insurance is not paid by anyone over 65.

Increasing income tax would similarly increase tax bills for those earning as little as £12,570 a year.

For some time now, the Labour Party has campaigned for the creation of a properly funded National Care Service, where those suffering from vascular brain disease receive all their treatment free, just as anyone suffering from vascular heart disease already does.

To pay for it, the Government should be looking at the top 1% of earners or wealth who have benefited most from Covid, increasing Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax, which is only paid after someone has died, and on estates over £1m for most married couples.

Boris Johnson said he has a ready baked plan; until social care and councils are properly funded, Boris’s plan is likely to remain half-baked.

Phil Tate