Sir Keir Starmer has accused senior government figures of being “missing in action” on Afghanistan, alleging that Boris Johnson is “incapable of international leadership, just when we need it most”.
With the Commons returning from its summer recess on Monday, Mr Johnson and his foreign secretary Dominic Raab faced down anger from some MPs over their handling of the crisis, which saw some 15,000 people evacuated from the now Taliban-held country in under a fortnight.
It came as Brexit minister Lord Frost confirmed a further extension of grace periods on border checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea, to “provide space for potential further discussions” over the Northern Ireland Protocol. One government source earlier described the move as “sausage wars on hold”.
Meanwhile, the prime minister faces a Tory revolt over reported plans to fund social care reform by raising National Insurance (NI).
A number of Tory grandees have criticised the plans, with former chancellor Lord Hammond suggesting that such a move would break a commitment in the government’s manifesto and would provoke a “very significant backlash”.
Labour has ruled out his party supporting the proposed increase, arguing that it would unfairly punish young people and low earners.
It came as Downing Street denied rumours suggesting that Mr Johnson was planning to hold a Cabinet reshuffle this week after it was reported that his schedule had been cleared for Thursday.
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Boris Johnson to face ‘very significant backlash’ over social care funding plans
Boris Johnson will face a “very significant backlash” if he goes ahead with plans to fund social care reform by raising National Insurance, Tory grandees have warned.
The prime minister, health secretary Sajid Javid and chancellor Rishi Sunak are currently working on details of a funding plan, as the government prepares to unveil its long-promised reforms for the social care system.
However, reports that National Insurance will be increased by 1.25 per cent to raise between £10bn and £11bn per year for the system have sparked criticism.
Former chancellor Lord Hammond suggested it would be unfair to ask younger people to pay so much to fund the care costs of older people.
“I think that if the government were to go ahead with the proposed increase in National Insurance contributions, breaking a manifesto commitment in order to underwrite the care costs of older people with homes, I think that would provoke a very significant backlash,” he told Times Radio.
He added: “Economically, politically, expanding the state further in order to protect private assets by asking poor people to subsidise rich people has got to be the wrong thing to do.”
Meanwhile, Lord Clarke, the Conservative chancellor between 1993 and 1997, said there were “problems with national insurance” that should be tackled while raising it.
He told LBC that it was “too heavily weighted on the lower paid” and there was “no reason” why people who continue to work after the state pension age no longer pay it.
Former Conservative prime minister Sir John Major has also warned against a move targeting workers and employers by arguing it would be “regressive”.
PM to defend handling of Afghanistan crisis as MPs return to Commons
Boris Johnson will pledge to use “every economic, political and diplomatic lever” to help Afghan people left behind by Britain in Afghanistan as he faces MPs today to defend his handling of the crisis.
The prime minister will make a statement to the House of Commons on Monday when parliament returns from its summer recess, with criticism expected over the thousands of Afghans who worked with Britain who are feared to have been left behind in Kabul.
Speaking in the week marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Mr Johnson will vow to “use every economic, political and diplomatic lever to protect our country from harm and help the Afghan people”.
He is expected to update MPs on the new resettlement programme for Afghans to come to the UK in the coming years.
Mr Johnson will also use the Commons speech to thank the 150,000 British service men and women for their work in Afghanistan over the past two decades.
Downing Street added that he would announce an additional £5m to help military charities offering support on mental health issues to veterans with the aim of ensuring “no veteran’s request for help will go unanswered”.
Labour’s shadow social care minister has argued that the government plans for social care reform announced so far do not go far enough to fix the problems in the system.
Liz Kendall told Sky News on Monday that plans for a cap on care costs would not benefit many of the people who use social care and would not improve issues in the system with staff training.
“I don’t think we have seen a plan for social care, all we’ve seen is a tax rise and that’s not good enough,” Ms Kendall said.
You can find his comments in full below:
Why is there backlash against the PM’s social care reform plans?
Almost everyone in politics agrees that the UK’s social care system needs urgent reform but there is little agreement over how exactly to pay for it.
For example, Boris Johnson’s reported plan to fund reforms by increasing National Insurance by 1.25 per cent has been roundly condemned by current and former ministers on both sides of the political spectrum.
This is mainly because an increase in National Insurance would disproportionately affect younger and poorer workers, while largely benefiting older people.
National Insurance contributions are based on weekly financial thresholds, with 0 per cent due on the first £184 earned, 12 per cent on sums between £184.01 and £967, and 2 per cent on remaining earnings.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the average weekly wage in Great Britain is £576, with a weekly National Insurance contribution amounting to £47.04 (8.16 per cent).
This means anyone whose primary earnings are above the £967, 2 per cent, threshold, or just over £50,000 a year, ultimately pays a proportionately lower rate than those who have the bulk of their earnings in the 12 per cent threshold.
There are also concerns within the Conservative Party that the plans would breach a 2019 Tory manifesto pledge by Mr Johnson not to raise income tax, VAT or National Insurance.
Labour will not put forward social care plan until next election, shadow minister suggests
Labour’s shadow social care minister has suggested that her party will not put forward an alternative to the government’s funding plan for fixing the social care system until the next general election.
“I want to see any increases in spending properly costed and funded, and in a way, I would say here… [it needs to be] not just fair across the incomes but fair across the generations,” Ms Kendall told Sky News.
When pressed on why Labour did not have a plan yet, she added: “We need to see what the economic conditions are at the time and just as at the last election, we put forward costed plans, that’s what we will do next time round because people want to know if you make a commitment, you’re going to stick with it.”
However, that answer is unlikely to satisfy many people in the social care sector, as experts have been calling for urgent reforms now, not in a few years time…
You can find her comments in full below:
Marcus Rashford urges MPs to back new plan to stop child food poverty
Footballer and activist Marcus Rashford has renewed his campaign to end child food poverty by calling on ministers to widen the eligibility criteria for food schemes to prevent thousands of children from going hungry.
The England forward has backed recommendations to make food schemes available to more households on low incomes, as he also criticised government plans to reduce Universal Credit payments by £20 a week at the end of this month.
Our reporter, Lamiat Sabin, has the full story below:
National Insurance hike is ‘most unfair way’ to fund social care, Andy Burnham says
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has said that raising national insurance is the “most unfair way” to fund social care reform as he called for a tax on wealth to fund the system instead.
Mr Burnham told Sky News that he thought it was a good thing that the government was now “gripping this issue”, despite his concerns about the plans.
However, he added: “If you wanted to think of the most unfair way of funding social care, then national insurance would be it, because it’s paid by very low-paid workers, younger people and it isn’t paid by the older generations – because it stops at retirement age.
“So really you couldn’t think of a worse way of doing this. In my view, we should not be taxing work, we should be taxing wealth to pay for the reform of social care.”
You can find his comments in full below:
Our reporter, Chiara Giordano, has more details below on Marcus Rashford’s call for ministers to keep the £20 Universal Credit uplift:
