Boris Johnson’s controversial social care plans pass despite party rebellion

Boris Johnson’s controversial social care plans pass despite party rebellion

 

Nearly a quarter of British PM’s Tory colleagues chose not to vote with the government.

 

BY ANDREW MCDONALD

November 23, 2021 1:36 am

https://www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnson-social-health-care-bill-passed/

 

A controversial tweak to Boris Johnson's social care plans for England passed in the U.K. parliament Monday night, despite a large rebellion from the prime minister's ruling Conservative Party.

 

A government amendment to the Health and Care Bill that changes how an individual cap on lifetime social care will work passed in the House of Commons by just 26 votes, despite the government's 77-seat majority.

 

Nineteen Conservative MPs voted against the measure while a further 68 abstained from voting, meaning just under a quarter of the party's lawmakers did not vote with the government. The scale of the rebellion reflects backbench anger at Johnson's handling of sleaze allegations as well as the unpopularity of the changes to the social care plans.

 

Under the initial bill announced by the government in September, any costs incurred on care would count toward a new £86,000 limit for how much individuals would have to pay toward their care costs, with further expenses past that total to be covered by the state.

 

However, an amendment introduced by the government just days before the bill was debated in parliament changed the way the cap would work. The new legislation would exclude costs paid by local authorities to poorer pensioners based on need from the cap system, meaning only costs paid by the individual would count toward their personal £86,000 limit.

 

The opposition Labour Party described the amendment as a "con" and said it would be unfair for those on lower incomes who may have to sell their homes to pay for care. Several of Johnson's party colleagues joined Labour in speaking out against the plans.

 

Mark Harper, a serial Tory rebel and former Cabinet minister who voted against the amendment, said the change to the bill "potentially disadvantages the less well off and those of working age with life long conditions."

 

Robert Buckland, who until September had served as justice secretary in Johnson's Cabinet, was among those who abstained from the vote, telling LBC radio Sunday he thought the government should "look again" at the plans.

 

Johnson defended the plans earlier Monday, arguing they would improve upon the current social care system.

 

“Under the existing system, nobody gets any support if they have assets of £23,000 or more. Now you get support if you have £100,000 or less, so we are helping people,” he said.

 

The bill will next face scrutiny in the House of Lords, where rebels maintain hope of overturning the government amendment.