Prime minister Boris Johnson has admitted that the hike in national insurace contributions has arrived at a “tough time”, but insisted the government had made “unquestionably the right move.”
The NI rise came into force today and was criticised by the Liberal Democrats who say the tax hike comes at the “wrong moment” as Britons face a growing cost of living crisis.
When asked how struggling households should save money, Mr Johnson said: “We’ve got to help families in any way that we can. And that’s why we’re putting another £22 billion into supporting families through what are unquestionably tough times caused by the end of the pandemic, the global inflation problem, the energy price spike that we’re seeing.
“We’re abating that, we’re helping people.
“But what we’re doing today is unquestionably the right thing for our country, it’s the right thing for the NHS.
He added: “And look, 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.
