When Gordon Brown raised National Insurance in 2002 to put more money into the health service, it was seen as a huge political gamble. The Tories — including one Boris Johnson — denounced the move in furious terms.
In a sign of how far to the left the country has moved, the Tories are planning to do something very similar to cover the cost of a social care cap and dealing with the NHS backlog. If the Tories do this, it will put Labour in a tricky position. How do they respond when a Tory government raises taxes to put more money into the NHS?
If the Tories do this, it will put Labour in a tricky position
But there is a political, as well as an economic, danger to the Tories in such an approach. Ahead of the announcement in the autumn, what remains of the low-tax Tory right will mobilise against the proposal.
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