Labour should seize the opportunity to make the case for alternative ways of funding social care
The Conservative government is reported to be considering an increase of up to 1.25p in the pound in National Insurance Contributions from 26 million people in work to help cover the costs of patching up Britain’s crumbling social care system. The party hopes that the win of “solving” the social care crisis will outweigh the political betrayal of breaking a clear manifesto promise to freeze National Insurance. But the funding option proposed is unfair, with those in work expected to subsidise elderly rich people. If Labour is sharp, it can win a big political victory here – and show itself to be the party with the fair, long-term solutions to a crisis a decade in the making.
The Conservatives have floated Labour’s 2002 increase in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) as a precedent, with the public reaction at the time rather muted. But circumstances were very different. Labour did not breach a manifesto promise to push through its 1p increase. Real wages and salaries in 2002 had been rising for a decade. And the NICs rise was brought in to pay for the National Health Service.