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‘Highest taxes since the war’: Papers report on PM’s broken manifesto pledges

The papers are dominated by reaction to the prime minister announcing a tax hike to help fund social care.

Boris Johnson will attempt to convince Conservative MPs to back his plan to fix social care on Wednesday at a snap Commons vote called just one day after the manifesto-busting new policy was announced.

The PM took a political gamble on Tuesday as he scrapped an election promise by raising national insurance contributions to deal with the backlog in the NHS built up during Covid and to deliver long-overdue reform of the social care system in England.

Tory opposition to the plans when first leaked was fierce, but any backbench rebellion appeared to have subsided by Tuesday as MPs provided little challenge to the PM as he presented his proposals to the Commons.

Paper’s reaction

The i leads on Mr Johnson scrapping an election promise by raising national insurance contributions to deal with the NHS backlog and deliver long-overdue reform of England’s social care system.

The Times and Daily Telegraph report the plan will result in the country’s tax burden increasing to its highest point since 1948.

The Guardian says the PM has “staked his reputation” on the manifesto-breaking scheme, while the Financial Times reports he defied Tory “rebels” in unveiling the plan.

The Sun calls the announcement Mr Johnson’s “biggest gamble”.

Metro accuses Mr Johnson of playing “catch up”, while the Daily Mail calls on the PM to “make the care worth the cost”.

Social care leaders have warned the plan will not be enough to end the crisis, according to The Independent and Daily Mirror.

The Daily Express carries a vow from Health Secretary Sajid Javid “not to waste a single penny” of the extra funding.

And the Daily Star says the PM’s “pants are on fire” after breaking tax and pension promises.

Related: #TaxtheRich trends as NI hike dubbed the new ‘poll tax’

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Joe Mellor

Head of Content

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