Boris Johnson to host major press conference from Downing Street later today

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will host a major No10 press conference later on today where he is expected to discuss his plans for a controversial tax rise to pay for social care.

Johnson, who will be joined by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid, is reportedly going to set out a ‘fair, reasonable and necessary plan’ to ensure both the NHS and social care has the long term resources that it needs.

To achieve this, he is expected to announce a rise in tax to fund the NHS and help it to cover the backlog of appointments and treatments caused by the pandemic.

Number 10 / Flickr

Other members of the Conservative Party have said the boost will see a 10% increase in current capacity in the next two to three years.

Downing Street has claimed that a staggering five million people are still waiting for surgery and treatment since the pandemic hit, and that could more than double to thirteen million without an urgent cash injection.

There will also be a 1.25% raise to National Insurance contributions from both workers and firms which will then be used to fund the ‘catastrophic’ black hole in social care, with care costs capped at £80,000 a year.

Last night, Downing Street said in a statement: “Under the current care system, anyone with assets over £23,350 pays for their care in full. This can lead to spiralling costs and the complete liquidation of someone’s assets.

Evelyn Simak / Geograph

“Around one in seven people now pay over £100,000, and there is an unfair and often catastrophic discrepancy between someone who has dementia paying for their care in full, while someone cared for by the NHS receives care for free.”

Last night, Johnson added: “The NHS is the pride of our United Kingdom, but it has been put under enormous strain by the pandemic. We cannot expect it to recover alone.

“We must act now to ensure the health and care system has the long term funding it needs to continue fighting COVID and start tackling the backlogs, and end the injustice of catastrophic costs for social care.”

An exact time for the conference is yet to be announced.