Boris Johnson to hold tax increase press conference today - what he could say

Two years after stating plans were in place, the Prime Minister is set to reveal government plans to fix the issues with social care in this country.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid will join the Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson has promised his Government “will not duck the tough decisions” to fix the broken social care system as he prepares to unveil his long-awaited plan to MPs on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister is set to make a statement in Commons at 1pm before leading a press briefing later on Tuesday.

Here is what he is expected to say:

Tax increase to pay for social care

The Prime Minister will set out in the Commons how he aims to tackle the social care crisis amid a growing Tory backlash over reported plans to raise National Insurance to fund the changes to the system in England – in breach of a general election commitment.

Mr Johnson said: “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.

“My Government will not duck the tough decisions needed to get NHS patients the treatment they need and to fix our broken social care system.”

Pre-recess Boris Johnson faced increasing pressure to offer details on his plan for social care reform, which he said was ready when speaking on the steps of Downing Street in 2019.

“We are committed to setting out long-term sustainable reform of the sector and that is what we will do, but beyond that I am not going to be getting into any more speculation,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.

“The challenges that face the social care sector are long-standing and have successively not been addressed, and that is something the Prime Minister is committed to doing.”

NHS funding to clear Covid backlog

The Government said the NHS will be given an extra £5.4 billion over the next six months to continue the response to coronavirus and tackle the backlog caused by the pandemic.

But ministers are being urged to “follow up in its spending review with the extra £10 billion a year the NHS will need over the next three years to avoid patient services from being cut”.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced the new funding and said £1 billion of the amount would be specifically for clearing the waiting lists faced by patients due to Covid-19, while £2.8 billion will be allocated for costs such as better infection control to continue to protect against the virus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “The NHS was there for us during the pandemic – but treating Covid patients has created huge backlogs.

“This funding will go straight to the front line, to provide more patients with the treatments they need but aren’t getting quickly enough.

“We will continue to make sure our NHS has what it needs to bust the Covid backlogs and help the health service build back better from the worst pandemic in a century.”

Pensions triple lock

The state pension triple lock is unsustainable in its current form, according to the chairman of the Treasury Committee.

Mel Stride suggested that the wages measure used to calculate the triple lock should be temporarily suspended – meaning it would be replaced with a double lock.

Reports suggest that a decision to temporarily introduce a double lock could be announced imminently.

In a letter to the Committee, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “I am committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve.

“The state pension is the foundation of state support for older people and, as a result of this Government’s policies, the full basic state pension in 2021/22 is over £2,050 a year higher in cash terms than in 2010.

“This is against a backdrop of wider state support for pensioners, including winter fuel payments, free eye tests and NHS prescriptions, and free bus passes.”

Tory Cabinet reshuffle

Boris Johnson is reportedly considering an overhaul of his top team this week.

The Prime Minister has not made any changes to his team for 18 months and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson are said to be in the firing line.

Amid growing Tory disquiet, Mr Sunak is reported to have reminded a reception of the 1922 committee of backbench Conservative MPs on Monday evening of the importance of loyalty.

He told MPs: “It’s fair to say that we’ve got a tough autumn ahead. That doesn’t mean there won’t be disagreements, there always are, but we should never lose sight of the central fact that we are a team.”