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.
The Tory free-marketeers claim Rishi Sunak has enough room for manoeuvre to drop or postpone the rise and must do so to ease the cost-of-living crisis. Conveniently, a £13bn borrowing undershoot in the current financial year matches the £12bn annual revenue the increase would raise for health and social care.
The MPs are egged on by Tory peers David Frost and Theodore Agnew, who have both resigned as ministers; they want tax cuts funded by a blitz on “waste” but our old friend “effiiency savings” is not a reliable one after 10 years of austerity. “We have to find real money somewhere,” one Sunak ally told me.
This story is from the January 29, 2022 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the January 29, 2022 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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