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A 'health and social care levy' costing 1 per cent of our incomes could help fix England's broken care system, Jeremy Hunt said last night.
The proposal from the former health secretary came as Boris Johnson failed to rule out the prospect of tax rises to pay for his long-awaited social care plan.
Mr Hunt said his idea – which would raise £6billion a year – could also help tackle the backlog of NHS treatments caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
He said the new premium would assist in fixing the care system without breaking Tory manifesto pledges not to raise income tax or National Insurance.
Yesterday, when asked at a press conference whether the 2019 manifesto commitment not to raise income tax or national insurance remained in place, the Prime Minister sidestepped the question. He said the problem of social care had 'bedevilled governments for at least three decades'.
'All I can say is we've waited three decades, you're just going to have to wait a little bit longer,' he said. 'I'm sorry about that, but it won't be too long now, I assure you.'
A 'health and social care levy' costing 1 per cent of our incomes could help fix England's broken care system, Jeremy Hunt said
It had been hoped that Mr Johnson would be in a position to outline his long-awaited social care reforms this week, before the second anniversary of him making his promise on the steps of Downing Street in 2019.
But he and the
