Rise in NICs Streeting to say tax will be used for NHS

Wes Streeting will launch a vocal defence of the party's tax rises today, pledging an extra 8.3m GP appointments to "end the 8am scramble" and warning his opponents that the investment would not be possible without the national insurance rise.

- Jessica Elgot

The health secretary, who has been critical of Reform, is expected to step up the attacks on opposition parties which have called the NICs rise for employers a "job tax" and said he would challenge them about how they would fund the health service.

"None of this would be possible without the national insurance rise to fund the extra investment," he said. "Other parties opposed the NICs rise, which would have meant more patients waiting for treatment, fewer GPs, and no pay rises for staff.

"There will be bumps along the way, but the NHS is only on the road to recovery because of the extra investment funded by the NICs rise," said the health secretary.

The plans for a £102m investment drive in more than 1,000 GP surgeries will bring the total investment in GPs to more than £1bn.