UK will raise taxes to fund public health

The UK government Posted by tax increase plan Which aims to raise an additional 12 thousand million pounds (14 thousand million euros) annually, with the aim of Increase spending on the country’s public health system and dependency policies, As reported by a British executive this Tuesday.

first Minister , Boris Johnson He stressed that the problems caused by Covid could not be addressed “without giving the public health system the money it needs.” For his part, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak clarified that “no government wants to raise taxes” but nonetheless “these are extraordinary times” and the country is facing “exceptional circumstances”.

The conservative government will raise the contributions of companies and workers to the country’s social security by 1.25 percentage points. The tax on dividends will also be raised by 1.25 points.

Johnson’s government hopes to end the delays the pandemic has caused in Britain’s health system. In England alone, the number of patients on waiting lists for surgery or treatment has already reached a record 5.5 million. If health spending is not increased, this figure could rise to 13 million. The average waiting time compared to before the pandemic increased from 25 weeks to 44 weeks.

Allocating more resources to healthcare was one of the main arguments for the British right to leave the European Union in the Conservative-led referendum on Britain’s exit from the European Union.

election promise

Johnson admitted this was in contravention of what he had promised before legislatures in December 2019. The Conservative leader then won a landslide by wresting much of their historic strongholds in the non-industrial north of England, traditionally known as the “red wall” from Labour. .

The Conservative Party promised to reduce the disparities between wealthy London and the rest of the country, and vowed not to raise taxes. Something it now claims has been hacked due to the coronavirus’ impact on meager public coffers.

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“It’s not something I do lightly,” Johnson said, introducing a measure that upset elected Tory MPs in “red wall” districts.

“But a global pandemic was not on any electoral platform,” he defended, stressing that the rise puts the UK in line with countries such as France, Germany and Japan, which have increased their contributions to help serve a rapidly aging population.