Care news

Using national insurance to fund social care is regressive and unfair | Letters

05-09-2021 17:51

We should scrap NI and replace it with taxes on income and profit, writes Adrian Darnell, while Janet Briffett believes the poor will end up paying for the well-offIf fairness is the criterion by which to judge a tax (Editorial, 3 September), we would never really have introduced national insurance. It’s both an income tax and an employment tax; it’s regressive; it’s not paid by those above the state pension age; it incentivises the construction of imaginative subcontractor avo

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PM risks ‘significant backlash’ over national insurance rise, says Hammond

05-09-2021 14:38

Former chancellor warns that plan to fund social care would break manifesto commitment and ‘has got to be the wrong thing to do’Increasing national insurance contributions (NICs) to pay for social care would provoke a “very significant backlash” for Boris Johnson, the former chancellor Philip Hammond has said.Hammond is among a number of senior Conservatives who oppose the planned rise to fund an overhaul of social care, including the former prime minister John Major, the

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Covid vaccines for care home staff: why ‘no jab, no job’ is controversial

05-09-2021 10:00

Key questions behind the government’s decree that care home staff must be vaccinated against Covid-19Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWhy is there controversy about giving Covid-19 vaccinations to care home staff?Ministers have decreed all care home staff in England must be vaccinated against Covid-19 by 11 November. However, it is estimated – by the government – that about 7% of the 570,000 people employed in English care homes will refuse the

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Baby boomers are the winners who have taken it all – now it’s time they gave some back | Will Hutton

05-09-2021 09:30

Abba’s return confirms where cultural power lies, but let’s move past the generation warsCharlie Watts was a great drummer, unobtrusively anchoring the Rolling Stones. I mourn his death. Abba are a unique group, if not to everyone’s taste: catchy songs with too little edge. But their re-forming to release another album in November has become meta news. Eight million watched the video of their new song, I Still Have Faith in You, in the first 48 hours.The interest is off the sca

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The Observer view on the urgent need for extra social care funding | Observer editorial

05-09-2021 07:30

A tax on the rich will provide a system that can properly look after the elderlyThe social care system for older people and disabled adults in England is in severe crisis. People are going without the professional care they need to maintain basic dignity and live fulfilled and flourishing lives, leaving relatives and friends trying to fill the gaps as they juggle jobs and children. The blame lies squarely with the government.Over the last decade, conditions have grown worse as an increasing numb

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