BORIS Johnson is under pressure to scrap the hated National Insurance tax hike – with the entire cabinet backing a delay.
They want the hike — set to pay for extra NHS funding and social care — to be shelved for a year to help hard-up Brits cope with rising bills.
Brits are braced for a spring bombshell as taxes, energy costs and everyday prices are set to soar because of pandemic pressures.
But now its thought the the cabinet as a whole are hoping that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will delay or scrap the plan.
One Cabinet minister told Mail Online: “If the Chancellor proposed to the Cabinet that he wanted to cancel the national insurance contributions rise, there would be no objection to it.
“There would be no objection from the Prime Minister either because this is very much a Treasury policy.”
They added: “It is the wrong time to be raising taxes.
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“We need to have a clear recovery from Covid before we start working out what we want to do about the fiscal balance. The ball is very firmly in the Chancellor's court.”
The national insurance hike will raise £12billion to £13billion a year for the Treasury.
It was supposed to help fund health and social care – however most of the money will go toward clearing the post-Covid NHS backlog.
Another Government source said: “This Government is determined to reform social care, something that had been dodged for too long.
“The NHS and social care levy is vital to achieving this and ensuring the NHS gets the funding it needs to clear the backlogs caused by the pandemic.”
'SHELVE THE RISE'
Last week one Tory MP told The Sun: “If he is going to stay, Boris needs a big reset and return to the issues which affect ordinary working people.
“He should shelve the rise, at least for this year.”
Ex-Cabinet minister John Redwood added: “It would help Boris massively to show he was thinking about the voters — and is in touch with people frightened about paying their energy bills.”
It comes as Downing Street gate-keepers could decide Boris Johnson’s fate in the probe over lockdown-busting parties at No 10.
Whitehall ethics chief Sue Gray has demanded the entry and exit logs as part of her inquiry into drinking culture behind the famous black door.
Her team will examine the computerised comings and goings at the two main security gates at either end of Downing Street.
The move will heighten fears among senior staff, whose jobs are on the line if they are found to be in breach of Covid rules.
A Government spokesman said last night: “We've taken decisive and historic action, with our health and social care levy due to raise around £13billion a year.
“This will benefit people up and down the country.”
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