Boris Johnson has admitted he has "absolutely no problem" raising National Insurance during a cost of living crisis.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that millions of families would struggle to make ends meet after energy prices shot up by 54 per cent at the end of last week.
National Insurance (NI) was increased by 1.25 per cent today by the Tory government to pay for social care south of the border.
Johnson admitted his government had to make tough choices in order to fund the health service.
Asked about the rise in NI, he said: "I've got absolutely no problem with it. We've got to do the difficult things.
"We've got to take the big decisions, the right decisions for this country."
He said he wanted 75 per cent of people waiting no more than 28 days for a cancer diagnosis but "it's only possible if you invest now".
"It's the biggest priority for the country," he said.
Asked whether families should eat cheaper food, not replace clothes, turn down the thermostat or turn heating off entirely, the Prime Minister said: "People obviously are going to face choices that they are going to have to make.
"We in the government will do everything that we can to help."
The "most important thing" that could be done was to have a "strong, robust economy in which you have a high level of security in your employment".
He added: "What we are doing today is unquestionably the right thing for our country, it's the right thing for the NHS.
"Because we've got, here in the UK, we've now got backlogs, waiting lists of six million people.
"Everybody across the country knows somebody who is waiting for cancer treatment or some sort of procedure that's crucial for their health.
"We've got to give our doctors and our nurses the wherewithal, the funding, to deal with that."
The Prime Minister said the Government would help families "in any way that we can", including the £22 billion package of measures announced to support households "through what are unquestionably tough times caused by the end of the pandemic, the global inflation problem, the energy price spike".
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