Parliament is back – and we are already seeing a familiar pattern from Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer

Editorial: The Conservatives have made a political calculation over social care, while Labour – after some agonised soul-searching – are seeking the moral one

(Brian Adcock)

Parliament returns this week, and with it, for the first time in a long time, may come proper politics. There is no question that the social care system needs urgent reform, and there is no doubt it will be very expensive, but the question of how to pay for it is as thorny as they come.

Boris Johnson’s preferred solution is a moral outrage. When he became prime minister in July 2019, he stood outside 10 Downing Street and claimed to have a plan for social care that was ready to go. By the time he had fought and won a general election five months later, the plan had not appeared, but he did run on a manifesto commitment not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT. Now the plan, to a certain extent, is out, and it will involve raising national insurance, via a social care surcharge.

There is almost no tax increase that can be dreamt up that is less progressive. National insurance is only paid on earnings. Even an income tax rise would affect people whose income comes from investments, or savings, or rent from properties. To raise national insurance is to directly transfer money from young people, who have comparatively little, to elderly people, who have plenty – particularly in housing wealth, though not always in readily accessible funds.