UNFAIR AND INEFFECTIVE LEVY

Liberal Democrats have slammed local Conservative MP Kit Malthouse decision to break his promise to the electorate and vote for a 1.25% rise in National Insurance. Mr Malthouse was one of the 317 Conservative MPs to support these plans. The changes, which go against the Conservatives' manifesto promise not to raise taxes, will mean hard-pressed local families and small businesses will be left paying hundreds of pounds more in tax each year.

Liberal Democrats voted against the government plans, arguing that they fail to fix the ongoing social care crisis. We are calling for a cross-party agreement on social care, to find a long-term solution to funding high-quality care for everyone who needs it.

The lack of detail in the government proposals suggest that this is going to be more of a tax grab rather than a workable solution to fix social care. There are three reasons that it will not work. There will be no new money for social care for three years as the initial focus is recovering from pandemic backlogs within the NHS. Local authorities are responsible for funding social care yet have been seeing their central government grants progressively cut such that many are effectively bankrupt, including Hampshire. Finally, there is no guarantee of the necessary capacity building required in the NHS and care system with the result that the money will be frittered away.

The Conservatives stood on a clear promise at the last election not to raise taxes, including National Insurance. Now they have voted to break that promise by hitting hard-pressed families and small businesses in North West Hampshire with a tax hike at a time many are still reeling from the impact of the pandemic. Our people deserve better than this. They need MPs who they can trust and who will fight for a fairer deal for our area.

Liberal Democrats opposed these unjust plans in Parliament. We have been clear about how to fix the social care crisis in a fairer way, instead of hiking taxes on those who can least afford it. We want to see cross-party talks on how to fund social care in a fair and sustainable way, along with urgent action to fix the staffing crisis in care homes and give unpaid carers the recognition they deserve.

Luigi Gregori

Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson

North West Hampshire