Labour MP Richard Burgon suggests social care costs should be funded by a wealth tax. He recommends a 10% tax on those with over £100m, which would raise £69bn.

He says the Tories don't have the guts to take on the super-rich who fund their party.

There's some praise for Burgon from the PM, who says at least he has the guts to say he would tax people in this country before pointing out he hasn't heard any credible alternative from Labour frontbenches.

Here's a recap of what Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced this afternoon, under plans to reform health and social care in England, external.

• A health and social care tax will be introduced across the UK to pay for reforms to the care sector and NHS funding in England
• The PM says this will raise £36bn for frontline services over the next three years - the "biggest catch-up programme in the NHS's history"
• The tax will begin as a 1.25% rise in National Insurance from April 2022 and a tax on share dividends will also go up by 1.25%
• It will become a separate tax on earned income from 2023
• No-one will have to pay more than £86,000 for care across their lifetime, while anyone with less than £20,000 of assets will get free care
• People with less than £100,000 of assets will see their care costs subsidised
• Boris Johnson accepted the plan broke a Conservative manifesto pledge, but said the "global pandemic was in no one's manifesto"
• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called the plan a "sticking plaster".

Labour MP Debbie Abrahams points out that dementia patients and their families have been particularly hard hit by the "social care crisis" and represent 40% of care home residents, spending an average of £30,000 a year on their care.

She says the number of dementia patients is increasing, and asks the PM if he will also fulfil his manifesto pledge for a "dementia research moonshot".

The PM says it is a "cruel lottery" that one in seven people face increased costs due to having dementia, and confirms that the moonshot programme, started by ex-health secretary Matt Hancock, continues.

A question now from Conservative MP Jeremy Wright about the cap on the tax, which means no-one will have to pay more than £86,000 for care across their lifetime.

He asks if the cap applies to those who have care needs, regardless of their age.

This is the case, the PM confirms, saying there is a "logical necessity for the cap if we're to have any hope of the private sector coming in with the financial instruments that will help to protect themselves against the costs.

Tory MP Robert Halfon says while he welcomes the burden of the proposals falling mainly on those who can afford them, he asks what other "mitigating factors" the PM can bring in to help those on lower incomes pay for the measures and whether he will commit to continuing to raise the living wage and cutting taxes for lower earners.

Johnson points out that in its plans the government is increasing the threshold from which people have to pay for their care from £14,000 to £20,000.

"That helps people on low incomes. But we're also... increasing the living wage," he adds.

He says a by-product of the post-pandemic bounce back is that wages are starting to rise again.

Image source, UK Parliament

Labour's Sarah Owen says she is a former care worker and knows it is a "hard and skilled job".

The Luton North MP says care workers deserve decent pay and recognition, "not a Tory tax hike".

Johnson says the burden falls "overwhelmingly on those who can best afford to pay".

He says the increase in the Living Wage and the investment in the care sector also benefit frontline workers.

Tax rise on dividends likely to infuriate entrepreneurspublished at 13:28 British Summer Time 7 September 2021

13:28 BST 7 September 2021

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter

The government, particularly the chancellor, has stressed the need for fairness in the proposed changes.

That may be the thinking behind a rise in tax on income from dividends.

National Insurance contributions are not levied on income from dividends, so there will be a feeling in government that this gap should be filled if others are facing a tax rise.

Without doing so, there could be an incentive for people to work as a company and be paid in dividends, rather than as employees paid a salary.

However, the dividend tax rise is likely to infuriate existing entrepreneurs and freelancers who set up as company directors who were ineligible for Covid support grants for the self-employed.

If you own shares in a company then you may receive dividend payments. You may need to pay tax on that income above a tax-free allowance.

Conservative MP Dr Caroline Johnson is up next. As a hospital doctor herself, she says she's delighted more money is to be invested into her sector but points out as well as money, more nurses are needed to reduce the waiting lists.

Boris Johnson says the government is recruiting "massively" in NHS staff, citing a figure of 11,600 more nurses in the NHS than this time last year.

His party will go on to get 50,000 more nurses, as promised in its manifesto, he adds.

Sammy Wilson of the Democratic Unionist Party says the tax rise to fund social care is not progressive but a "flat rate tax" that will mainly benefit "better-off people" and leave the less-privileged subsiding the wealthy.

Boris Johnson insists the measures are progressive, with the burden falling most heavily on those who can afford to pay - and that it would help to reduce current treatment waiting lists in Northern Ireland.

Recently departed health secretary Matt Hancock says that social care has been docked "for decades" because successive governments have classified it as "too difficult".

He congratulates the PM on his commitment, and asks him to ensure the NHS and social care are integrated properly "so people can get the dignity they deserve".

The PM responds by thanking Hancock, who he says played a "major part in the gestation of these policies" and knows them well.

Johnson says the government will be bringing forward a White Paper on the integration, which he says will be difficult, but must be done.

Jon Trickett, veteran Labour MP for Hemsworth, West Yorks, says the cap on care costs proposed by the prime minister risks becoming "his Poll Tax".

He provides an example of what he describes as an injustice in how the cap will affect his constituents.

The MP says that, for families in Johnson's Uxbridge constituency, the new cap of £86,000 would mean those with an average-priced house worth £500,000 would have an inheritance of over £410,000 per family.

Trickett says that, in Hemsworth, it would leave families with a house worth £130,000 just £44,000 per family.

Johnson says the cap is a "massively progressive measure" and "protects people up and down the country from catastrophic costs".

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey tells the Commons he's a carer - and has been for most of his life.

He criticises the new plan for failing to address the vacancies for care staff and not helping the millions of unpaid carers that "the PM always forgets".

"This PM has not a clue about fairness and he just doesn't care," he says.

The PM says he's "never heard anything quite so absurd", saying his plan is doing exactly what Davey is asking for and it's not just care for the elderly.

Breaking 'no tax rise' election pledge is a gamble for PMpublished at 13:14 British Summer Time 7 September 2021

13:14 BST 7 September 2021

Peter Saull
BBC Political Reporter

"There can be no more dither and delay," Boris Johnson said as he unveiled his plan for social care.

It's a phrase he often uttered during the Brexit crisis and on that he did manage to break the deadlock.

This is a prime minister who wants his reputation to be of someone who gets things done.

Even if changing circumstances mean that promises have to be broken.

"A global pandemic was on no-one's manifesto," he argued.

But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer pointed out that every Conservative MP was elected on the back of a pledge to not raise taxes.

Politically, Boris Johnson knows this is a gamble.

His hope is that voters can forgive the breaking of one promise to fulfil another.

Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge accuses the PM of choosing the "least progressive option" to fix health and social care, adding it is "unfair" between generations, individuals and others.

She challenges Johnson on why he is "ignoring a raft of better alternatives" such as raising income tax, dividend tax being equivalent to income or capital gains tax.

The PM responds that none of the suggested measures raise anything like what is needed, and adds that people recognise the country has seen an enormous financial impact from the pandemic and would be suspicious of the government saying it could be financed in any lesser way.

Tory MP Andrea Leadsom says there will be millions of people relieved at the government's announcement.

The former business secretary calls for reassurance for early intervention and support for families with the very youngest in society throughout the UK.

Johnson says the chancellor is determined to achieve proper funding for early-years provision - saying the support in the first three years of life are vital.

Ian Blackford, leader of the Scottish National Party, reminds the PM that health matters are devolved to the Scottish government.

The prime minster can get his mitts off our health system, he tells Boris Johnson, because people in Scotland trust the Scottish government to run health and they certainly don't trust the prime minister.

He says he expects the PM to be remembered for breaking manifestos and international law.

Blackford calls the new tax "regressive", saying it will fall hardest on the youngest and lowest paid who suffered badly through the pandemic.

Ex-health secretary Jeremy Hunt acknowledges that raising taxes is a "difficult" thing for a Tory government to do, but asks whether he agrees whether the "demographic challenge" means that regardless of where you pay taxes, everyone will ultimately pay more for health and social care.

The PM thanks Hunt for his contributions as a former health secretary and chairman of the Commons Health Select Committee and says he agrees with his statement.

Johnson responds by saying that "now we know why over decades the Labour government totally refused to deal with this problem".

He accuses Starmer of having "absolutely no plan".

"What is his answer to the backlogs in the NHS, what is his answer to the problems in social care?"

The PM says that "of course" the government "will be investing in social care" - citing record increases in the Living Wage.

He says it is "deeply irresponsible" of Starmer not to present an alternative proposal to deal with the NHS backlog and social care problems to the House of Commons.

"This government is dealing with those, we're getting on with it," an impassioned Johnson says as he hits the Despatch Box.

Sir Keir goes on to say those with the broadest shoulders need to pay more.

The government should be asking for more from wealthier people by getting them to pay from their stocks, shares, dividends and properties.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tells MPs the problems with the NHS did not just begin with the pandemic, saying two million people were on the waiting list before the pandemic

He calls the PM's plan "a sticking plaster over gaping wounds".

He goes on to ask the PM if he can commit to clearing the backlog before the end of this Parliament.

On social care, he says people will still face substantial costs under the new plans and asks if people will have to sell their homes to fund their own care.