FirstFT: Johnson plan to lift tax burden to 70-year high

FirstFT: Johnson plan to lift tax burden to 70-year high

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Boris Johnson will challenge rebel Tory MPs to vote down his manifesto-breaking £12bn tax-raising plan to fund health and social care today, as he pushed Britain’s tax burden to the highest level since 1950.

The UK prime minister will ask MPs to endorse a strategy that shreds traditional Tory claims to be a low-tax party. One Conservative rebel said he expected only “a handful” to defy Johnson.

Johnson’s plan will move his party into Labour territory. “We are the party of the NHS,” he declared yesterday. The social care reform proposals would cap people’s costs and safeguard their assets: here’s how they would work.

Brokers, however, have described the plans to raise taxes on company dividend payments as a “kick in the teeth” to savers and shareholders.

Helen Thomas argues that there’s irony in that complexity is part of the appeal of national insurance as a tax: it’s hard to see who ultimately pays.

What do you think of Johnson’s tax-raising plan? Let me know at [email protected]. Thanks for reading FirstFT Europe/Africa — Jennifer

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