Boris Johnson ‘fully committed’ to national insurance rise
Downing Street has insisted Boris Johnson is “fully committed” to introducing a national insurance rise in the spring, despite reports he is “wobbling” on the issue.
The manifesto-breaking rise of 1.25% in national insurance contributions (NICs) was presented by Johnson as a way of tackling the NHS backlog and reforming social care.
Rightwing Conservatives who are opposed to rising taxes are seeking to exploit the prime minister’s current weakness by urging him to scrap it or delay its introduction.
A government source told the Times that Johnson was “wobbling” over the rise, adding that he “would do anything to survive” his current difficulties over Downing Street parties. And sources told the Guardian that the Treasury was becoming increasingly alarmed that Johnson might be preparing to scrap the rise, scuppering public finances.
But, pressed on those reports on Friday, a No 10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister and chancellor are fully committed to introducing the health and social care levy in April. We’ve spoken before about why we are doing that – in order to give the NHS the funds it needs to tackle the backlog that has built up, as well as tackling the long-term issue of social care.”
Speculation about the planned NICs rise was fuelled this week when Johnson refused to offer a cast-iron guarantee that it would go ahead amid growing concerns about cost-of-living pressures.
The defence minister James Heappey told the BBC’s Question Time on Thursday that the government was “in listening mode” when it came to assessing the policy.
On Friday, however, both No 10 and the technology minister, Chris Philp, offered a stern defence of the tax rise, insisting it would be enacted as planned.
Philp denied any delay was being
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