Priti Patel must explain why she is keeping the divisive and unfair tax for overseas NHS workers

Editorial: The immigration health surcharge is perhaps the most outrageous of a panoply of fees and charges increasingly paid by people wanting to live and work in this country

‘We are looking at everything now in terms of what we can do to continue to support everyone on the front line of the NHS,’ the home secretary said on 25 April

It turns out that it was just another mixed message from a government minister at the socially distanced lectern of the daily coronavirus briefing. Three weeks ago, Priti Patel, the home secretary, said the surcharge for NHS staff from abroad was “under review”.

Today, The Independent reports exclusively that there will be no change to what ministers consider the “important” principle that everyone coming to work in the UK contributes extra for the NHS.

The immigration health surcharge is perhaps the most outrageous of a panoply of fees and charges increasingly paid by people wanting to live and work in this country. It breaches an important principle, in that it does not even pretend to be a fee to cover the administration costs of a visa or work permit – it is an extra tax, intended for the NHS, on immigrants. In the Budget in March, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, announced the surcharge would be raised from £400 a year to £624.