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- Allister Heath: Boris’s tax rise betrays middle England
The planned National Insurance rise split the Cabinet this morning but a minister has insisted the current plan will not change.
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, defended the Government’s proposals after the Telegraph reported last night that Jacob Rees Mogg, leader of the House of Commons, had unsuccessfully called for April’s tax rise to be abandoned during yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.
While Boris Johnson’s administration wants to “relieve tax pressures on the public as and when we can”, Mr Shapps was adamant that the Government would not be changing its mind as it seeks to deal with the NHS backlog caused by coronavirus and accompanying restrictions.
“We’re absolutely committed to doing two things – catching up with the backlog in the NHS, and that’s why we have this National Insurance increase specifically for this purpose, and sorting out the long-term issue of social care where people lose their homes if they have specific types of illnesses such as dementia.
“We’re absolutely committed to making those changes. It’s an historic change which I think will bring a lot of security to families up and down the country, so we’ll certainly be doing that.”
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Omicron travel testing had ‘outlived its usefulness’, says Transport Secretary
The UK’s travel Covid testing regime had “outlived its usefulness”, the Transport Secretary said this morning.
Grant Shapps was speaking after pre-departure tests, costly Day 2 PCR tests and self-isolation on arrival were all scrapped yesterday.
Striking a positive note, he said he felt the time had come to dispense with the measures for good after almost two years of complex and at times draconian travel rules.
Testing facilities at airports had become a familiar sight – and a major part of going on holiday – during the pandemic Credit: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images
“This was always brought in on a temporary basis and it did its job. Since bringing in the red list and these additional tests we managed to get 13 million extra booster jabs in people’s arms,” Mr Shapps told Sky News.
“Obviously omicron is global, it’s worldwide, everybody has it now. The proportion that comes in from overseas is miniscule compared to the numbers that have it here. And in a sense omicron testing has outlived its usefulness.”
The UK is just as likely to see a new variant emerge over here, he added, and the genomic sequencing programme will continue. But acknowledging the economic hit of the travel measures, he said: “A lot of jobs depend on travel, a lot of jobs depend on tourism and we need to keep those measures in line which is what’s going on with omicron around the world, which is that it’s everywhere now, it’s the dominant variant.”
8:16AM
Grant Shapps: No plans to introduce mandatory vaccinations
The UK will not follow Italy in making vaccination mandatory for teachers or those aged over 50, Grant Shapps said.
“We live in a free society, and that’s absolutely right as well,” he told the BBC’s Today programme. “So we will not be in a position where we enforce that people need to get vaccinated.
An advertising board for the Government’s current booster rollout campaign on a street in Manchester city centre Credit: Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images
“It is the case that if they don’ [get vaccinated]t, then on testing they’ll find that they have to do a whole range of things that are quite time-consuming and even expensive. They’ll find that they have to test, quarantine, a lot of day eight tests.”
Nine in 10 Britons over the age of 12 have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, Department for Health figures show. A total of 34.6 million people have had their third dose, or booster, which is the equivalent of three in four eligible Britons.
8:07AM
No change to ‘historic’ National Insurance rise, says Grant Shapps
The National Insurance rise scheduled for April will not be scrapped in the face of opposition from within Cabinet, Grant Shapps has insisted.
The Transport Secretary went as far as to describe the reforms as “historic” in comments made during this morning’s broadcast round.
“We made our decisions, we have a system of collective responsibility,” Mr Shapps told the Today programme. “There’s a very, very good case for both catching up with the backlog that coronavirus has created and in solving an historic, rather unforgivable situation where I think if you happen to come down with certain types of illnesses, like dementia, you can end up losing your home because long-term social care doesn’t look after you.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg voiced his opposition to the planned National Insurance rise at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting Credit: Rob Pinney/Getty Images
If he had hoped to pacify mutinous Tory backbenchers by imposing no coronavirus restrictions beyond Plan B measures, Boris Johnson once again risks incurring their wrath by pressing ahead with the planned tax rise.
The Conservative manifesto at the 2019 General Election promised to “protect the incomes of hard-working families”, and the National Insurance increase will be seen by some on the Right as a betrayal of his commitments.
My Telegraph colleague Ben Riley-Smith revealed that Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, called for the National Insurance rise to be abandoned at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting as the UK struggles with a cost of living crisis. You can read his full report here.
7:59AM
Good morning
The National Insurance rise has split the Cabinet this morning but a minister insisted that the current plan will not change.
Here is the front page of tomorrow’s Daily Telegraph:
?️The front page of tomorrow’s Daily Telegraph:
”Colston four’ walk free as jury says no crime was committed’#TomorrowsPapersToday
Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/jLpmnOkau3
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) January 5, 2022 8:25AM
Omicron travel testing had ‘outlived its usefulness’, says Transport Secretary
The UK’s travel Covid testing regime had “outlived its usefulness”, the Transport Secretary said this morning.
Grant Shapps was speaking after pre-departure tests, costly Day 2 PCR tests and self-isolation on arrival were all scrapped yesterday.
Striking a positive note, he said he felt the time had come to dispense with the measures for good after almost two years of complex and at times draconian travel rules.
Testing facilities at airports had become a familiar sight – and a major part of going on holiday – during the pandemic Credit: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images
“This was always brought in on a temporary basis and it did its job. Since bringing in the red list and these additional tests we managed to get 13 million extra booster jabs in people’s arms,” Mr Shapps told Sky News.
“Obviously omicron is global, it’s worldwide, everybody has it now. The proportion that comes in from overseas is miniscule compared to the numbers that have it here. And in a sense omicron testing has outlived its usefulness.”
The UK is just as likely to see a new variant emerge over here, he added, and the genomic sequencing programme will continue. But acknowledging the economic hit of the travel measures, he said: “A lot of jobs depend on travel, a lot of jobs depend on tourism and we need to keep those measures in line which is what’s going on with omicron around the world, which is that it’s everywhere now, it’s the dominant variant.”
8:16AM
Grant Shapps: No plans to introduce mandatory vaccinations
The UK will not follow Italy in making vaccination mandatory for teachers or those aged over 50, Grant Shapps said.
“We live in a free society, and that’s absolutely right as well,” he told the BBC’s Today programme. “So we will not be in a position where we enforce that people need to get vaccinated.
An advertising board for the Government’s current booster rollout campaign on a street in Manchester city centre Credit: Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images
“It is the case that if they don’ [get vaccinated]t, then on testing they’ll find that they have to do a whole range of things that are quite time-consuming and even expensive. They’ll find that they have to test, quarantine, a lot of day eight tests.”
Nine in 10 Britons over the age of 12 have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, Department for Health figures show. A total of 34.6 million people have had their third dose, or booster, which is the equivalent of three in four eligible Britons.
8:07AM
No change to ‘historic’ National Insurance rise, says Grant Shapps
The National Insurance rise scheduled for April will not be scrapped in the face of opposition from within Cabinet, Grant Shapps has insisted.
The Transport Secretary went as far as to describe the reforms as “historic” in comments made during this morning’s broadcast round.
“We made our decisions, we have a system of collective responsibility,” Mr Shapps told the Today programme. “There’s a very, very good case for both catching up with the backlog that coronavirus has created and in solving an historic, rather unforgivable situation where I think if you happen to come down with certain types of illnesses, like dementia, you can end up losing your home because long-term social care doesn’t look after you.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg voiced his opposition to the planned National Insurance rise at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting Credit: Rob Pinney/Getty Images
If he had hoped to pacify mutinous Tory backbenchers by imposing no coronavirus restrictions beyond Plan B measures, Boris Johnson once again risks incurring their wrath by pressing ahead with the planned tax rise.
The Conservative manifesto at the 2019 General Election promised to “protect the incomes of hard-working families”, and the National Insurance increase will be seen by some on the Right as a betrayal of his commitments.
My Telegraph colleague Ben Riley-Smith revealed that Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, called for the National Insurance rise to be abandoned at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting as the UK struggles with a cost of living crisis. You can read his full report here.
7:59AM
Good morning
The National Insurance rise has split the Cabinet this morning but a minister insisted that the current plan will not change.
Here is the front page of tomorrow’s Daily Telegraph:
?️The front page of tomorrow’s Daily Telegraph:
”Colston four’ walk free as jury says no crime was committed’#TomorrowsPapersToday
Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/jLpmnOkau3
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) January 5, 2022
