National insurance: Boris Johnson told to 'make pensioners pay' for social care reform
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will break his 2019 manifesto pledge and raise national insurance bills in a move that will see around 25 million people pay extra tax. Craig Beaumont of the Federation of Small Businesses said the proposal, which could raise up to £20billion for the Treasury, puts the economic recovery at serious risk. He said: “Hiking the jobs tax on employees and employers would make it more expensive for businesses to create and maintain jobs.”
The national insurance hike, first reported by The Telegraph, has also sparked concerns over intergenerational unfairness.
In fact, Sir Andrew Dilmot, who has advised the Prime Minister on the economy, warned that pensioners should instead pick up the national insurance bill.
He said it was “entirely reasonable” for people over retirement age to pay the contributions in order to help meet the estimated £10billion a year cost of overhauling Britain’s social care system.
Pointing out that the average income and wealth of older people had “grown massively” over the past 50 years, he added: “It’s very important that charge should be paid by older people as well as younger people.”
