PM defends tax hike as national insurance hike kicks in – Follow Live

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said his party wanted an emergency tax cut.

He told Sky News: “When people are facing huge increases in their energy bills, food bills, the cost of filling a car – it is the wrong time for the Conservatives to add up all these unfair tax hikes.”

Sajid Javid was asked what happened to £350m in a week that “we will benefit from Brexit for the NHS”.

The health secretary told LBC radio: “To remind your listeners the additional funding that was promised to the NHS before the pandemic hit was an additional £34bn a year until 2024. That’s it.

“It’s still happening, it’s going on. The NHS is getting that funding.

“What we are talking about today is an additional £39 billion over the next three years, with every penny going towards that new levy. That is, to deal with the challenges of the pandemic.

Sajid Javid evaded a question on PartyGate, saying he would not discuss “matters of law”.

Ashley CowburnOur Political Correspondent, has more:

The Liberal Democrats this morning called the increase in national insurance unfair – and also said it comes at the wrong time amid the cost of living crisis.

“It does not tax the unearned income of the very rich. It does not tax the income of the landlords. It puts all the burden on the working people – that is wrong,” party leader Sir Ed Davey told BBC Breakfast.

He added: “The problem we have at the moment is that conservatives are not only taking an unfair approach to funding the NHS, but they are raising this tax at the wrong time.”

The health secretary has defended an increase in national insurance for millions of workers, starting today.

Sajid Javid told Sky News: “It’s going to pay for the level of activity in the NHS which is about 13 percent of pre-pandemic, it’s going to be nine million more scans, tests and procedures, which means that People will be seen long ago.

The health secretary said money for public services could come through either taxes or borrowing, which he said was essentially asking the next generation to pay for it.

“I think it’s fair that we pay for what we’re going to use as a country but we do it in a fair way. This levy, the way it’s being raised, is in the top 15 Percentage earners will pay around 50 per cent. I think this is the right way to do it,” he said.

At least 100 Tory MPs are reportedly lobbying against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to back down from ambitious onshore windfarm plans for England.

The prime minister has been hit by a divided cabinet over onshore wind farm plans, with Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps branding the turbines as “an eyesore”.

sources told Guardian That cabinet ministers and Tory lawmakers argued against the expansion, saying they “should see the vote favor onshore wind. They’ve been waging a war from 10 years ago.”

“If you take away the dramatization, everyone is talking about community consensus. PM has talked about that, Kwasi [Kwarteng] Have talked about it. It is one thing that the minister would like to ensure that communities are paid directly for their share in the community infrastructure,” said a government source.

On her visit to Poland, Ms Truss announced that the West has now accumulated more than $350bn (£267bn) from Putin’s “war chest”, making up nearly 60 percent of the regime’s $604bn (£462bn) foreign exchange reserves. has become unavailable. ,

He said the sanctions had already had a “crippling effect” on the Kremlin – but asked EU countries G.

The government is facing opposition from senior conservatives over its plan to privatize Channel 4, as Boris Johnson was warned that Margaret Thatcher would not have attempted such a move.

Channel 4’s former head of news and current affairs said the move was designed to “throw a little red meat to Tory supporters of a very right-wing nature at the government’s crisis”.

If the government is to have its way, it will have to work hard to reassure MPs that jobs – especially those outside London – will be somehow protected during the process, writes Adam Forrest,

Britain is headed for the biggest drop in living standards since the 1950s this year, despite a mini-budget in which Chancellor Rishi Sunak cut £330 from national insurance for the average worker.

Mr. Sunak also promised a 1p cut in the basic rate of income tax in 2024, which was immediately denounced as a pre-election bribe.

But they did little for the poorest, who see welfare benefits far more than inflation, which is expected to hit close to 9 percent this year.

He also rejected opposition calls for an unexpected tax on bumper profits of North Sea oil and gas companies to cut VAT on energy prices.

Andrew Woodcock and Anna Isaacs Explain the reasons for the decline in the standard of living.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the pandemic had put “unprecedented pressure on the NHS” and extended waiting times.

“invest it” [from the national insurance tax hike] Will go into tackling those backlogs and help ensure that everyone gets the care and treatment they need,” he said.

According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the number of people in England waiting for alternative care has increased from 4.4 million before the pandemic to six million.

Mr. Javid said: “We cannot do business as usual, which is why we are starting surgical hubs and community diagnostics centers across the country to deliver millions more scans, checks and operations. This will ensure significant funding That the NHS is equipped not only to reduce waiting times, but also to tackle the great challenges we face, from cancer to heart disease and dementia.”