Tax hike will raise ‘enough money’ to pay for social care reforms – Javid

Published

3 years ago

September 8, 2021

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A plan to hike National Insurance contributions will raise “enough money” to pay for reforms to the care sector in England and is “a very Conservative thing to do”, Sajid Javid has said.

The health secretary told Kay Burley that while “I don’t like raising taxes”, without these changes, NHS waiting lists would have reached 13 million people in three years’ time – the equivalent to one person in every family.

But he later clarified that “no responsible health secretary” could guarantee the money raised will clear the backlog.

It comes as MPs prepare to vote on the biggest tax rise for decades to fund the NHS and social care reforms.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that National Insurance contributions will rise by 1.25 percentage points to pay for the social care system in England in a bid to end the “unpredictable and catastrophic costs” faced by many.

A social care package, which the prime minister has called “the biggest catch-up programme” in the NHS’s history, will be funded through a new, UK-wide ‘health and social care levy’ from April 2022.

The government is confident it will win the vote later on Wednesday, but concerns remain both about how the £12bn will be raised and how much of it will be directed towards the care sector.

Asked if he is sure he is in the right party, as the Conservative 2019 manifesto promised not to increase taxes, Mr Javid told Sky News: “Yes, I am sure of that.

“I think what we have announced in the last 24 hours actually is a very Conservative thing to do.

“We are committed as a party to the NHS, I want the NHS to be there for everyone – a world class health service free at the point of use paid through general taxation.

“I, as health secretary, when I came into this job a couple of months ago and I was told that the waiting list – already at 5.5 million because of the global pandemic and the pressures that has created – could go to as high as 13 million in three years’ time, I can’t tolerate that, I can’t accept that.

“So something had to be done and I think the British public understand that.

“Similarly, with adult social care, I think the fact that some people have this risk of catastrophic costs of care, that is not acceptable where you have some one in seven people that have to pay over £100,000 for their care.

“And I think it is a very Conservative thing to do to give people that confidence to know that their lifetime cost of care can be capped for them – the plan to cap it at £86,000 I think is the right thing to do to do it properly and sustainably.

“I don’t like raising taxes, I want taxes to be as low as they possibly can be, but I think people understand if we want the NHS to be for us there always, doing its job, then we have got to properly fund that – and the same applies to social care.”

Asked if the sum collected from rising National Insurance contributions will raise enough money to fix the current problems in the social care system, the health secretary said: “I think this is enough money.”

Pushed again on whether he can guarantee the money will clear the NHS backlog, he added: “No responsible health secretary can make that kind of guarantee.”

Mr Javid later confirmed that £5.4bn raised by increasing National Insurance payments will go directly to social care.

The new social care plan was signed off by ministers at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning after days of fury from Tory backbenchers.

The 1.25 percentage point increase is expected to raise about £12bn which, in the early years, will mainly be used to fund dealing with the NHS backlog.

This includes £2.2 billion a year for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as tax changes affect the whole of the UK.

The levy will be paid by working adults including those over the state pension age.

Announcing the plans in the Commons, the PM said the costs of the programme will be split between individuals and businesses and “those who earn more will pay more”.

The PM’s plan to overhaul the social care sector includes:

• A government pledge to invest £36 billion over the next three years to help the NHS recover from the pandemic.

• To also invest in reforming the social care sector.

• A promise that from October 2023, nobody will pay more than £86,000 for their social care – regardless of their assets.

• That the government will fully cover the cost of care for those with assets under £20,000, and contribute to the cost of care for those with assets of between £20,000 and £100,000.

Making a statement in the Commons on his new proposal on Tuesday, Mr Johnson said he accepts that the measure breaks a Tory manifesto pledge not to hike National Insurance, but that it was a necessary move due to COVID financial pressures.

“No Conservative government wants to raise taxes, I will be honest I accept this breaks a manifesto commitment. It is not something I do lightly but a global pandemic wasn’t in anyone’s manifesto,” the PM told MPs.

“This is the right the reasonable and the fair approach. I think the people of this country understand that in their bones and they can see the enormous steps that this government and the Treasury have taken.”

The PM also announced that there will be a 1.25% hike in the amount of tax that is paid on income from share dividends to help cover the costs of the social care package.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said those with “the broadest shoulders” need to “pay more”.

Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, he said: “The alternative is obvious: a timetable, a plan to clear waiting lists just as we did under the last Labour government, a comprehensive report planned for social care dealing with the inadequacies I have just pointed out, and driving up the equality of provision, and not just tinkering with the funding model.

“We do need to ask those with the broadest shoulders to pay more and that does include asking much more of wealthier people including income from stocks, from shares, from dividends and from property.”

UK

UK weather: Warning over flight delays as fog forces ‘air traffic restrictions’

Published

7 hours ago

December 28, 2024

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UK weather: Warning over flight delays as fog forces 'air traffic restrictions'

Flight delays are expected as the UK sees more heavy fog.

It comes after 20,000 people were affected by airport disruption on Thursday, according to travel journalist Simon Calder.

“Temporary air traffic restrictions have been put in place due to fog causing poor visibility. Some flights may be delayed throughout the day,” a spokesperson for Gatwick Airport said.

“London Gatwick apologises for any inconvenience. Passengers should contact their airline for further information,” they added.

At Gatwick 35 departures scheduled up to 11am are delayed and 26 flight arrivals are delayed up to the same time. Two flights are cancelled. At Heathrow 20 flight departures scheduled to leave before 11am are delayed. At Manchester airport 16 arrivals are delayed up to 11am.

Speaking to Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast about the disruption yesterday Mr Calder said: “We had at London City Airport, at London Heathrow, the busiest in Britain, at London Gatwick, the second busiest, more than 40 cancellations in and out from each of those airports.”

The thick fog will continue on Saturday according to the Met Office, with some areas seeing visibility reduced to just 100 metres.

Get the weather forecast where you are

The worst of the fog is forecast to hit the South East and central England, while East Anglia and parts of South Wales will also be affected.

Forecasters have not issued any fog weather warnings yet but the Met Office said it will monitor the situation across the weekend.

Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick said: “It’s that time of year when people are travelling around the country a lot and there are a lot of people on the roads.

“There is a lot of fog covering much of England, mainly the South East and central England, but the rest of the country is seeing quite a bit of thick fog too.

“It will be pretty murky on Saturday morning and there will still be fog patches that will take a little longer to clear.”

Meanwhile, there is a yellow warning in place for heavy rain in parts of Scotland for Monday and New Year’s Eve on Tuesday, leaving the start of 2025 “distinctly unsettled”.

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations could face “significant disruption” from rain, with organisers warning audiences to “prepare for all weather, wrap up warm and double-check with your travel operator for the latest updates.”

The yellow warning could see as much as 140mm (5.5in) of rain in places, as other parts of the UK will likely see rain, wind and possibly even snow later on next week.

The Met Office added that “more warnings are likely to be issued”.

At Heathrow, British Airways was forced to cancel a handful of flights due to fog on Friday, while others were delayed.

Flights at both Gatwick and Manchester Airport were disrupted, with delays of up to three hours at Gatwick, and some passengers were diverted to other airports.

“The diversions were absolutely extreme,” said Mr Calder. At Teesside Airport, flights were diverted to Newcastle, Aberdeen and even Dublin.

This could continue into the weekend if the misty weather persists.

A spokesperson for the UK’s main air traffic control provider Nats said it had implemented “temporary air traffic restrictions” at several airports on Friday due to the fog.

Can I get compensation if my flight is delayed?

If your flight is affected by the disruption, you won’t be able to get any cash back, according to Mr Calder, as “bad weather is beyond the airline’s control”.

“However, every airline that cancels a flight is obliged to find for its passengers an alternative flight as soon as possible,” he said.

While the fog likely won’t remain past the weekend, people should not hold out hope for sustained sunshine with wet and windy conditions expected for much of the country, the Met Office said.

UK

Kemi Badenoch needs to pick her battles – and decide how dirty she wants to get

Published

23 hours ago

December 27, 2024

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Kemi Badenoch needs to pick her battles - and decide how dirty she wants to get

Never wrestle with a pig. You get dirty. And besides, the pig likes it.

Looking at the festive ding-dong that’s broken out between Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, you do wonder if the Tory leader should take on board this famous quote – because there was only ever going to be one winner from this spat.

The Reform UK leader has spent the thick end of three decades dragging his political opponents into fights that ultimately benefit his cause. This is no different.

What would have been a relatively low-key Christmas stunt has been elevated into literal front page news.

Reform UK insiders say that, in turn, is driving more people to the party and pushing up their member count further.

Part of this is down to news editors grabbing on to any bit of politics that’s around during the quiet period between Christmas and New Year.

Why Badenoch and her team didn’t clock this and hold back will likely bewilder some in her party.

An argument the Tories should have swerved

What’s more, the Tory leader is also currently on the back foot regarding her central accusation that the Reform membership number is fake.

Reform agreed to show Sky News details of their account on NationBuilder – a platform that manages memberships and donations for many political parties.

The number of active memberships in the account portal matched the figure on the ticker – with their website count growing in size shortly after the NationBuilder tally increased.

Sky News also conducted its own analysis on the ticker and found nothing suspicious as it stands (read the full analysis here).

Kemi Badenoch has said Reform changed the coding when people began to point out the alleged discrepancy, but has yet to provide any evidence to back this up.

Either way, this is still an argument the Tories should probably have swerved.

All politicians need to pick their battles

Yes, signed-up members mean more income for a party, but they don’t necessarily translate into wider electoral success. After all, Labour’s membership surged under Jeremy Corbyn, but he still lost two elections.

But that’s not to say both main parties shouldn’t be looking very closely in their rearview mirror at Reform.

The party’s reaction to this row shows a far more professional behind-the-scenes operation than the previous, more ramshackle incarnations of the Farage-led political machine.

Talk to long time allies of the Reform leader, and even they sound somewhat surprised by how slick their project has got.

They also point to electoral milestones on the horizon where the party’s results at the ballot box can be objectively tracked – beginning with May’s local elections next year and running through the Welsh Assembly vote in 2026.

There’ll be many more attempts by Nigel Farage to wrestle with his political opponents before then.

The task for the Tory and indeed Labour leaders is to pick their fights and judge how dirty they are prepared to get.

UK

Nigel Farage threatens legal action if Kemi Badenoch doesn’t apologise for saying membership ticker was ‘fake’

Published

1 day ago

December 27, 2024

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Nigel Farage threatens legal action if Kemi Badenoch doesn't apologise for saying membership ticker was 'fake'

Nigel Farage has threatened to take legal action against Tory leader Kemi Badenoch if she does not apologise for accusing him of publishing a “fake” ticker showing Reform UK’s membership increasing to overtake the Conservatives.

The Reform UK leader has reacted furiously to Ms Badenoch’s assertion that he was “manipulating [his] own supporters” with a ticker that is “coded to tick up automatically” after it showed the insurgent right-wing party had gone past 131,680 members – the number of eligible Conservative Party members in its leadership election in the autumn.

He is demanding an apology from Ms Badenoch for the “accusations of fraud and dishonesty” that he labelled “disgraceful”, and said he is “not going to take it lying down”.

Asked by Sky News in a call with journalists if he is going to sue the Tory leader for libel, Mr Farage said: “I’m going to take some action in the next couple of days. I’ve got to decide exactly what it is, but I’m certainly not going to take it lying down.”

“I think it’s an absolutely outrageous thing for her to have said,” he continued. “I know she’s got a very bad temper. I know she’s well known for lashing out at people, but I am not at all happy, and I’m going to take some action.”

He added that he will confirm within two days exactly what this action will be if she does not apologise for the “intemperate outburst”.

Analysis: Badenoch needs to pick her battles

Reform showed Sky News the coding used to link the ticker to the member count within their account on the platform NationBuilder. The demonstration provided strong evidence that the ticker was not automated. Scroll down for the full analysis.

A Tory source told Sky News: “Fake Farage is clearly rattled that his Boxing Day Publicity Stunt is facing serious questions over a fake clock and hundreds of ‘members’ seemingly joining in the middle of the night.

“Like most normal people around the UK, Kemi is enjoying Christmas with her family and looking forward to taking on the challenges of renewing the Conservative Party in the New Year.”

‘It’s a fake’

The row started after Reform UK said on Boxing Day that it officially had more members than the Conservative Party, which Mr Farage, party leader and MP for Clacton-on-Sea, hailed as a “historic moment”, describing his party as “the real opposition”.

Reform UK also shared a video of the membership tracker being projected on to the Conservative Party headquarters in London.

But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the party of issuing misleading figures: “Manipulating your own supporters at Xmas eh, Nigel?. It’s not real. It’s a fake… [the website has been] coded to tick up automatically.”

Posting on X, she added that the Tories had “gained thousands of new members since the leadership election”.

Reform UK hit back at Ms Badenoch, publishing a screenshot of an online register claiming to show “active memberships”.

Do Reform’s claims stack up?

Ben van der Merwe

Data journalist

@_bvdm

Some tickers are indeed “coded to tick up automatically”. This is often done when the data isn’t updated regularly and so, in the meantime, the counter is made to increase at realistic intervals.

Any ticker showing government debt, unemployment or global temperatures, for instance, is almost certainly going up at a regular, pre-programmed rate.

Sky News analysed Reform UK’s ticker to see if this was the case for their membership ticker.

Specifically, we looked at a video posted by Nigel Farage on X, which shows an uninterrupted view of the counter from 4pm on Christmas Day to 2pm on Boxing Day.

The chart above shows the number of new members added every 30 minutes during that 22-hour stretch.

What we can see is that it varies a lot – very few people join overnight, and there is a big surge from around 11am on Boxing Day.

This was around the time that it was first reported Reform UK had acquired more members than the Conservatives, which provided a burst of publicity to the party.

If the ticker was simply increasing automatically, we would expect a much flatter line.

Political parties in the UK aren’t required to reveal their membership numbers, much less provide data that can be independently verified.

However, Reform UK did show Sky News its account on Nation Builder, an independent platform widely used by political parties and campaigns to track and manage their memberships.

Sky News was able to verify that the number of memberships in Reform’s NationBuilder account matched the number presented on their on-site ticker.

The Conservative Party had 131,680 members as of the November leadership contest, while Labour had 366,604 members as of March 2024.

Reform UK chair Zia Yusuf also waded into the row, claiming that people whose memberships of the Tory party had lapsed voted in the autumn leadership election that saw Ms Badenoch elected to the role.

In a call with journalists earlier, he repeated the assertion, and after putting out a call on social media for people to contact him if they had voted in the leadership election but are no longer party members, he said he has received “just so many” that he has not yet been able to verify their claims.

Ms Badenoch and the Conservative Party have been contacted for comment.

Reform UK has said it will submit to an audit of its membership numbers by one of the “big four” accountancy firms if the Tories do the same.

Farage gets personal

Speaking to journalists earlier, Mr Farage was very critical of Ms Badenoch personally, saying her claim that their membership number ticker had been faked “reflects her personality”.

He labelled her “aggressive” and “liable to lashing out”, and said he thinks she wrote her tweet out of a “slight sense of anger”.

“She’s got to fully disprove this, and she’s going to find life a lot more difficult and bitterly regret putting this out on Boxing Day afternoon,” he added.