Boris dodges a tax hike Tory rebellion – for now

After emerging relatively unscathed from his appearance in front of MPs, Boris Johnson addressed the public in a bid to sell his plan to raise taxes as part of a a new health and social care levy. Given that polling suggests broad support for the proposals, the press conference was – at least on paper – the easier outing of the two. Appearing alongside Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister tried to justify his decision to break a manifesto pledge and raise national insurance in order to clear the NHS backlog and fund social care. 

Johnson said he was fully aware it meant reneging on an election promise – but said ‘a global pandemic wasn’t in our manifesto either’. All three politicians were keen to emphasise that this had been a difficult decision – and suggested they ought to be credited for coming up with a solution to a complex problem.