Boris Johnson announces controversial rise in National Insurance to fund social care

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced the National Insurance rate to rise by 1.25% to fund health and social care.

Mr Johnson told MPs that the government is “beginning the biggest catch-up program in NHS history” and that the Covid pandemic had placed “massive pressures” on health services.

The PM said: "It would be wrong for me to say we can pay for this recovery without taking the difficult but responsible decisions about how we finance it".

The controversial move will allegedly bring £12bn a year to help deal with the backlog of cases built up during the pandemic.