There’s a smarter way to fix the social care crisis than raising national insurance
The prime minister and chancellor have bolted themselves together in a mutual destruction pact. Come hell or high water, the national insurance rise will happen, rudely snubbing a campaign by the Daily Mail. The Tory right wants no tax rises and no spending, while Labour wants the highest tax burden to be paid by those who have the most. But instead of hitting older people, or the unearned income of rich people, this tax will be paid by young people.
It’s a political shocker: the NI rise will take £255 a year from typical earnings, in perfect synchronicity with the explosion in fuel bills, council tax rises and inflation, which is on track to reach 6% by April. The government has also ruled out abolishing VAT on fuel, another regressive tax. This is an epic case of political and policy mismanagement.
The tax hike is intended to keep Boris Johnson’s pledge to solve social care “once and for all”. But virtually none of the money from this tax hike will reach care. Most of it will be consumed by the 6 million-long NHS waiting list. Johnson’s promise that “nobody needing care should be forced to sell their home to pay for it” is so badly framed that it will reverse his promises to “level up” the UK: the regressive £86,000 cap paid by everyone with property or savings is a flat tax, so those in the north with cheaper properties may lose everything, while owners of more valuable southern homes can expect to pay just a portion of their wealth. Every aspect of this policy seems designed to anger almost everyone while failing to tackle the real crisis that leaves a million and a half people with no care, while care homes and domiciliary services tumble into bankruptcy.
The government has proposed no real reforms to this chaotic
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