Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Johnson breaks tax pledge to fund new care for elderly

Johnson breaks tax pledge to fund new care for elderly

BREAKING an election pledge not to raise taxes, British prime minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday (7) announced hefty new funding to fix a social care crisis and a pandemic surge in hospital waiting lists.

The government said the tax hike brings Britain into line with France, Germany and Japan, which have all raised social insurance levies to help care for ageing populations.


Johnson conceded that the 1.25 per cent levy on UK national insurance contributions - paid both by workers and their employers - violated Conservative manifesto promises ahead of the December 2019 election.

"No Conservative government wants to raise taxes," he told a news conference, after an uproar among many of his backbenchers and reports of a cabinet rift over the plan.

But arguing "Covid wasn't in our manifesto either", Johnson said "nor could we in good conscience meet the cost of this plan simply by borrowing the money and imposing the burden on future generations".

The coronavirus pandemic has fuelled a record backlog of 5.5 million routine procedures on the state-run National Health Service (NHS), rising to 13 million by the end of the year if left unchecked, the government said.

It announced an initial package of £5.4 billion (6.3 billion euros, $7.5 billion) in extra funding for the NHS to help clear the backlog over the coming months.

The new national insurance levy will then raise £36 billion over the next three years for the NHS, before it is targeted directly to funding elderly care.

While national insurance is paid by all UK workers except the low-paid, the government said a 1.25 per cent levy would also be slapped on share dividends, to capture the better-off who rely on investments for income.

Another manifesto breach

At present, anyone with assets over £23,250 has to pay in full should they need to go into a care home, for instance if they develop dementia.

That has led to many elderly Britons being forced to sell their homes and liquidate their life savings.

Under the new plan, from October 2023, anyone with assets of £20,000-£100,000 will contribute to their care but will also get means-tested support.

No one will have to pay over £86,000 over their lifetime.

Johnson, who entered Downing Street in 2019 claiming to have a plan ready on social care, said successive governments had ducked the electorally tricky challenge for too long.

"There cannot be any more dither or delay," he told parliament. "You can't fix the NHS without fixing social care."

The government also announced another manifesto breach in scrapping a guarantee that would have seen retirees get an annual raise to their state pension by some eight per cent next year.

With wages frozen for many state employees but labour shortages driving up private-sector salaries, Johnson said the "statistical freak" for pensioners was unjustified.

Opposition parties seized on the latest U-turns by Johnson's government, which has also broken with its electoral pledges by slashing the foreign aid budget.

Employers' union the CBI accepted social care reforms and greater investment were "long overdue" but said businesses already faced a corporation tax hike in 2023.

CBI president Karan Bilimoria said a national insurance increase "will directly hurt a business' ability to hire staff, at a time when businesses have faced a torrid 18 months and are now fighting crippling labour shortages".

But the government says its massive spending during the pandemic must force a fiscal reckoning, and takes comfort in opinion polls that suggest solid support for overhauling social care.

(AFP)

More For You

Kamal Pankhania
Kamal Pankhania
Kamal Pankhania

Exclusive: Asians emerge as major donors to political parties

ASIAN business leaders have emerged among the most prominent donors to UK political parties in the second quarter of 2025, new figures from the Electoral Commission showed.

Among individual Asian donors, Kamal Pankhania and Haridas (Harish) Sodha stood out with £100,000 contributions each. Pankhania’s gift to the Conservatives in June and Sodha’s support for Labour in April were the largest Asian donations recorded during the second quarter of this year, data released on September 4 showed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tributes paid to entrepreneur and philanthropist Rafiq M Habib

Rafiq M Habib (Photo: Habib University Foundation)

Tributes paid to entrepreneur and philanthropist Rafiq M Habib

TRIBUTES have been paid to Rafiq M Habib, a prominent Asian business leader, philanthropist and founding chancellor of Habib University, who passed away in Dubai earlier this month. He was 88.

News of his death was confirmed by Habib University, which described him as the “moral and visionary force” behind its creation. “His calm resolve and integrity shaped every step of this journey, and his belief in education’s role in serving the greater good continues to guide our mission,” the university said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less
migrant crossings

The man is suspected of using online platforms to advertise illegal boat crossings

AFP via Getty Images

Asian man held in Birmingham for advertising migrant crossings online

AN ASIAN man has been arrested in Birmingham as part of an investigation into the use of social media to promote people smuggling, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Monday (15).

The 38-year-old British Pakistani man was detained during an NCA operation in the Yardley area. He is suspected of using online platforms to advertise illegal boat crossings between North Africa and Europe.

Keep ReadingShow less
King Charles & Modi

King Charles III (L) poses with India's prime minister Narendra Modi (R) during an audience at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk on July 24, 2025.

AARON CHOWN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

King Charles marks Modi’s 75th birthday with Kadamb tree gift

KING CHARLES III has sent a Kadamb tree as a gift to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on his 75th birthday on Wednesday (17).

The British High Commission in New Delhi announced the gesture in a social media post, noting that it was inspired by Modi’s “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” (One tree in the name of mother) environmental initiative. The sapling, it said, symbolises the shared commitment of the two leaders to environmental protection.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump hails 'unbreakable' US-UK bond in Windsor Castle speech

US resident Donald Trump and King Charles interact at the state banquet for the US president and First Lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of their second state visit to the UK, Wednesday September 17, 2025. Yui Mok/Pool via REUTERS

Trump hails 'unbreakable' US-UK bond in Windsor Castle speech

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Wednesday (17) hailed the special relationship between his country and Britain as he paid a gushing tribute to King Charles during his historic second state visit, calling it one of the highest honours of his life.

It was a day of unprecedented pomp for a foreign leader. Trump and his wife Melania were treated to the full array of British pageantry. Then, the president sang the praises of his nation's close ally.

Keep ReadingShow less