This week, we have once again witnessed another broken Tory manifesto pledge. At the 2019 General Election they promised that they would not be raising taxes on income, on VAT or National Insurance (NI). They have now gone back on this pledge. Whilst the Government try to pass this off as a consequence of Covid, it was only at the Budget this March that the Chancellor promised that National Insurance would not go up.
The rise in NI will have a massive impact on 2.5 million people including many in my constituency. I have received countless emails from concerned constituents who will not only have to shoulder the burden of this rise but also face a £20 cut to Universal Credit at the end of the month.
I voted against the proposed increase because it won’t fix social care (helping just a tenth of those in need) and it will disproportionately affect the generation starting work who have the largest debts and no assets. This will do nothing but widen the gap between those with the greatest wealth and those without.
Social care has lacked the priority, attention and funding it deserves through a decade of cuts by the Government. Care workers have also been undervalued and underpaid. £8 billion has been lost from adult social care budgets over the last few years and too many people have been left to cope without the support they need. Where Government has failed, councils have had to pick up the slack, on ever decreasing budgets and at the cost of other important local services.
Whilst extra funding now undoubtedly needs to be raised, taking disproportionately from the lowest paid is not the answer.
During the debate in Westminster I did an intervention during Rachel Reeves speech which you can see below.
Found out exactly how much the National Insurance increase will cost you here: