UK's Johnson defends proposed NI hike

Calls by a senior Conservative backbencher to scrap a planned UK National Insurance rise have been dismissed by the prime minister.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Today on Monday morning, former Brexit minister David Davis said the proposed 1.25% rise would remove around 10% of disposable income from "ordinary families".

He also cast doubt over claims the increase would raise the sums predicted. Calling the move "economically unwise", Davis argued it would instead disincentivise work, penalise employers and "hit the growth of the whole economy".

The prime minister, however, dismissed Davis' concerns. Asked about the rises by journalists while on a visit to a hospital later on Monday, Boris Johnson said: "The NHS has done an amazing job but it has been under terrible strain.

"We’ve got to put that money in. We’ve got to make that investment if our NHS. If you want to fund our fantastic NHS, we have to pay for it, and this government is determined to do so."

From April, employees, companies and the self-employed with pay 1.25p more in the pound in NI. The rise was voted through Parliament last September and is supposed to help fund the NHS and social care.

However, the proposed increase also coincides with the energy cap being lifted in April, which is expected to cause household gas and electricity bills to surge.

NI will revert to its current rate a year later, with a 1.25% rate on earnings and profits introduced in its place. The changes are expected to raise £36bn over the next three years.