Inside Westminster

Johnson and his ravenous backbenchers should think again before enacting a volte face on national insurance, writes Andrew Grice

The PM may be thinking of stopping the 1.25 per cent increase in national insurance contributions due in April

(PA)

Boris Johnson normally hates headlines including the word “U-turn”; his aides spend many hours denying a decision is a volte-face even when it patently is. However, there is one U-turn the prime minister is very tempted to make and celebrate: halting the 1.25 per cent increase in national insurance contributions due in April.

Right-wing Tories are trying to exploit Johnson’s new mantra: to do “whatever it takes” to hang on to power. He is preparing to toss them a few more bones, such as diluting the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill and proposed restrictions on junk food advertising in shops.

But right-wingers want “operation red meat” to include a giant, juicy T-bone steak – the national insurance rise. They are making it the price of their support for Johnson when his enemies move against him --probably, whenever Sue Gray’s report on “partygate” is finally published.