Boris Johnson saw his House of Commons majority cut as several Tory MPs opposed his £12 billion tax hike to pay for health and social care.
The Health and Social Care Levy Bill cleared the Commons at third reading by 307 votes to 251, majority 56.
A total of 10 Conservative MPs rebelled to oppose the legislation, including former ministers Esther McVey and Sir Christopher Chope, while many more abstained.
The Prime Minister’s working majority of 83 was cut, but the unease amongst his backbenchers was nowhere near enough to derail the legislation, which will help enact his plans of a 1.25 percentage point increase in national insurance from April 2022.
The levy will also hit the earnings of working people above retirement age from April 2023.
The policy breaks Mr Johnson’s 2019 election manifesto commitment not to raise taxes.
Speaking at third reading, Treasury minister Jesse Norman welcomed the “landmark” Bill and insisted: “This levy will enable the Government to tackle the backlog in the NHS, it will provide a new permanent way to pay for the Government’s reforms to social care and it will allow the Government to fund its vision for the future of health and social care in this country over the longer term.”
But Conservative MP John Baron (Basildon and Billericay), speaking earlier in the day, expressed concerns over the “haste” at which the policy is being implemented and suggested the move risks “choking off an economic recovery”.
He said his party had previously referred to national insurance as a “tax on jobs”, adding: “The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) in 2002, when speaking from the backbenches when opposing Labour’s increase, called it regressive.
“He was right then, I’m afraid he’s wrong now introducing this national insurance contribution tax increase.”
He went on: “This will cost jobs, it will result in lower pay and it will result in higher prices.”
Conservative MP Richard Drax (South Dorset) urged the Government to lower taxes instead of going “Labour-lite”.
He said: “Aping Labour by spending billions of pounds we can’t afford won’t fool the electorate for long. NHS has become a religion. No-one dares take its name.
“But a radical review of health provision is critical if we are not to pour money into a black hole. We heard this expression repeatedly today, it is a bottomless pit. Without reform, this money, well intended by the Government, will disappear.”
He noted employment is back to pre-pandemic levels, with one million job vacancies, and it is therefore “not the time to raise taxes”.
He went on: “Every instinct to me screams ‘lower them’. Because if we lower them, we get more money. That is a fact. It is no doubt that social care and NHS need more money, but with it must come, as I said, reform.”
Conservative backbencher Craig Mackinlay (South Thanet), another of the rebels, said: “The Government has to be applauded for finally thinking about these things, but I think haste is not due at this time. My sadness is we are just reaching for the tax lever. That’s not what Conservatives do. We are going to end up with a tax take at the highest level of GDP for 70 years.”
He said “increasing a tax on jobs, something we want a lot of, seems to be rather bizarre” adding: “I’m very concerned that this is going to be wasted cash. I’m very unimpressed. And I will not be supporting the Government tonight.”
Conservative former minister John Redwood urged: “Don’t kill the recovery and you’ll get the money.”
Labour former minister Dame Margaret Hodge (Barking) said there were a “raft of better ways to fund health and social care”.
She added: “Put a penny on income tax and equalise rates for dividend and income tax – £13 billion. Equalise capital gains and income tax rates – £14 billion.
“Or as suggested by academics … plug the unfair gaps in the national insurance by extending it in full – not just the levy, all of it – to all investment income and working pensioners – £12 billion.”
Conservative chairman of the Health and Social Care Committee Jeremy Hunt said: “The opposition of the parties opposite to this Bill does not bear any scrutiny at all.”
Shadow Treasury minister James Murray said: “This Government is landing a tax rise which they claim will go towards social care on low-paid social care workers themselves. The truth is, this is a tax on working people and their jobs.”
SNP economy spokeswoman Alison Thewliss added: “These proposals are a tax on the poorest working people in this country. They are completely unjustifiable on that basis, it is disproportionate, it is unfair.”
The Bill will undergo further scrutiny in the Lords at a later date.
Here’s a full list of MPs who voted in favour of the bill:
Nigel Adams (Conservative – Selby and Ainsty)
Bim Afolami (Conservative – Hitchin and Harpenden)
Adam Afriyie (Conservative – Windsor)
Nickie Aiken (Conservative – Cities of London and Westminster)
Peter Aldous (Conservative – Waveney)
Lucy Allan (Conservative – Telford)
David Amess (Conservative – Southend West)
Lee Anderson (Conservative – Ashfield)
Stuart Anderson (Conservative – Wolverhampton South West)
Stuart Andrew (Conservative – Pudsey)
Edward Argar (Conservative – Charnwood)
Sarah Atherton (Conservative – Wrexham)
Victoria Atkins (Conservative – Louth and Horncastle)
Gareth Bacon (Conservative – Orpington)
Richard Bacon (Conservative – South Norfolk)
Kemi Badenoch (Conservative – Saffron Walden)
Shaun Bailey (Conservative – West Bromwich West)
Siobhan Baillie (Conservative – Stroud)
Duncan Baker (Conservative – North Norfolk)
Harriett Baldwin (Conservative – West Worcestershire)
Steve Barclay (Conservative – North East Cambridgeshire)
Simon Baynes (Conservative – Clwyd South)
Aaron Bell (Conservative – Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Scott Benton (Conservative – Blackpool South)
Paul Beresford (Conservative – Mole Valley)
Saqib Bhatti (Conservative – Meriden)
Bob Blackman (Conservative – Harrow East)
Crispin Blunt (Conservative – Reigate)
Andrew Bowie (Conservative – West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Ben Bradley (Conservative – Mansfield)
Karen Bradley (Conservative – Staffordshire Moorlands)
Graham Brady (Conservative – Altrincham and Sale West)
Suella Braverman (Conservative – Fareham)
Jack Brereton (Conservative – Stoke-on-Trent South)
Steve Brine (Conservative – Winchester)
Paul Bristow (Conservative – Peterborough)
Sara Britcliffe (Conservative – Hyndburn)
James Brokenshire (Conservative – Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Anthony Browne (Conservative – South Cambridgeshire)
Fiona Bruce (Conservative – Congleton)
Robert Buckland (Conservative – South Swindon)
Alex Burghart (Conservative – Brentwood and Ongar)
Conor Burns (Conservative – Bournemouth West)
Rob Butler (Conservative – Aylesbury)
Alun Cairns (Conservative – Vale of Glamorgan)
Andy Carter (Conservative – Warrington South)
James Cartlidge (Conservative – South Suffolk)
Miriam Cates (Conservative – Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Alex Chalk (Conservative – Cheltenham)
Rehman Chishti (Conservative – Gillingham and Rainham)
Jo Churchill (Conservative – Bury St Edmunds)
Greg Clark (Conservative – Tunbridge Wells)
Simon Clarke (Conservative – Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Theo Clarke (Conservative – Stafford)
Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative – Bassetlaw)
Chris Clarkson (Conservative – Heywood and Middleton)
James Cleverly (Conservative – Braintree)
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative – The Cotswolds)
Thérèse Coffey (Conservative – Suffolk Coastal)
Elliot Colburn (Conservative – Carshalton and Wallington)
Damian Collins (Conservative – Folkestone and Hythe)
Alberto Costa (Conservative – South Leicestershire)
Robert Courts (Conservative – Witney)
Claire Coutinho (Conservative – East Surrey)
Geoffrey Cox (Conservative – Torridge and West Devon)
Stephen Crabb (Conservative – Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Virginia Crosbie (Conservative – Ynys Môn)
Tracey Crouch (Conservative – Chatham and Aylesford)
James Daly (Conservative – Bury North)
David T C Davies (Conservative – Monmouth)
James Davies (Conservative – Vale of Clwyd)
Gareth Davies (Conservative – Grantham and Stamford)
Mims Davies (Conservative – Mid Sussex)
Caroline Dinenage (Conservative – Gosport)
Sarah Dines (Conservative – Derbyshire Dales)
Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative – Huntingdon)
Leo Docherty (Conservative – Aldershot)
Michelle Donelan (Conservative – Chippenham)
Nadine Dorries (Conservative – Mid Bedfordshire)
Steve Double (Conservative – St Austell and Newquay)
Oliver Dowden (Conservative – Hertsmere)
Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative – Thurrock)
Flick Drummond (Conservative – Meon Valley)
James Duddridge (Conservative – Rochford and Southend East)
David Duguid (Conservative – Banff and Buchan)
Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative – Chingford and Woodford Green)
Philip Dunne (Conservative – Ludlow)
Mark Eastwood (Conservative – Dewsbury)
Ruth Edwards (Conservative – Rushcliffe)
Michael Ellis (Conservative – Northampton North)
Natalie Elphicke (Conservative – Dover)
George Eustice (Conservative – Camborne and Redruth)
Luke Evans (Conservative – Bosworth)
David Evennett (Conservative – Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Michael Fabricant (Conservative – Lichfield)
Laura Farris (Conservative – Newbury)
Simon Fell (Conservative – Barrow and Furness)
Katherine Fletcher (Conservative – South Ribble)
Mark Fletcher (Conservative – Bolsover)
Nick Fletcher (Conservative – Don Valley)
Vicky Ford (Conservative – Chelmsford)
Kevin Foster (Conservative – Torbay)
Liam Fox (Conservative – North Somerset)
Lucy Frazer (Conservative – South East Cambridgeshire)
George Freeman (Conservative – Mid Norfolk)
Mike Freer (Conservative – Finchley and Golders Green)
Richard Fuller (Conservative – North East Bedfordshire)
Mark Garnier (Conservative – Wyre Forest)
Nick Gibb (Conservative – Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Peter Gibson (Conservative – Darlington)
Jo Gideon (Conservative – Stoke-on-Trent Central)
John Glen (Conservative – Salisbury)
Robert Goodwill (Conservative – Scarborough and Whitby)
Michael Gove (Conservative – Surrey Heath)
Richard Graham (Conservative – Gloucester)
Helen Grant (Conservative – Maidstone and The Weald)
James Gray (Conservative – North Wiltshire)
Chris Green (Conservative – Bolton West)
Damian Green (Conservative – Ashford)
Andrew Griffith (Conservative – Arundel and South Downs)
Kate Griffiths (Conservative – Burton)
James Grundy (Conservative – Leigh)
Jonathan Gullis (Conservative – Stoke-on-Trent North)
Robert Halfon (Conservative – Harlow)
Luke Hall (Conservative – Thornbury and Yate)
Stephen Hammond (Conservative – Wimbledon)
Matt Hancock (Conservative – West Suffolk)
Greg Hands (Conservative – Chelsea and Fulham)
Rebecca Harris (Conservative – Castle Point)
Trudy Harrison (Conservative – Copeland)
Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative – Hastings and Rye)
Simon Hart (Conservative – Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire)
John Hayes (Conservative – South Holland and The Deepings)
Oliver Heald (Conservative – North East Hertfordshire)
James Heappey (Conservative – Wells)
Chris Heaton-Harris (Conservative – Daventry)
Gordon Henderson (Conservative – Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Darren Henry (Conservative – Broxtowe)
Antony Higginbotham (Conservative – Burnley)
Damian Hinds (Conservative – East Hampshire)
Simon Hoare (Conservative – North Dorset)
Richard Holden (Conservative – North West Durham)
Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative – Thirsk and Malton)
Philip Hollobone (Conservative – Kettering)
Adam Holloway (Conservative – Gravesham)
Paul Holmes (Conservative – Eastleigh)
John Howell (Conservative – Henley)
Paul Howell (Conservative – Sedgefield)
Nigel Huddleston (Conservative – Mid Worcestershire)
Eddie Hughes (Conservative – Walsall North)
Jane Hunt (Conservative – Loughborough)
Jeremy Hunt (Conservative – South West Surrey)
Tom Hunt (Conservative – Ipswich)
Alister Jack (Conservative – Dumfries and Galloway)
Bernard Jenkin (Conservative – Harwich and North Essex)
Mark Jenkinson (Conservative – Workington)
Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative – Morley and Outwood)
Caroline Johnson (Conservative – Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Gareth Johnson (Conservative – Dartford)
David Johnston (Conservative – Wantage)
Andrew Jones (Conservative – Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Fay Jones (Conservative – Brecon and Radnorshire)
David Jones (Conservative – Clwyd West)
Simon Jupp (Conservative – East Devon)
Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative – Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Alicia Kearns (Conservative – Rutland and Melton)
Gillian Keegan (Conservative – Chichester)
Greg Knight (Conservative – East Yorkshire)
Danny Kruger (Conservative – Devizes)
Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative – Spelthorne)
John Lamont (Conservative – Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Robert Largan (Conservative – High Peak)
Pauline Latham (Conservative – Mid Derbyshire)
Andrea Leadsom (Conservative – South Northamptonshire)
Edward Leigh (Conservative – Gainsborough)
Andrew Lewer (Conservative – Northampton South)
Brandon Lewis (Conservative – Great Yarmouth)
Julian Lewis (Conservative – New Forest East)
Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative – Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Chris Loder (Conservative – West Dorset)
Mark Logan (Conservative – Bolton North East)
Marco Longhi (Conservative – Dudley North)
Julia Lopez (Conservative – Hornchurch and Upminster)
Jack Lopresti (Conservative – Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Jonathan Lord (Conservative – Woking)
Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative – Truro and Falmouth)
Rachel Maclean (Conservative – Redditch)
Alan Mak (Conservative – Havant)
Kit Malthouse (Conservative – North West Hampshire)
Anthony Mangnall (Conservative – Totnes)
Scott Mann (Conservative – North Cornwall)
Julie Marson (Conservative – Hertford and Stortford)
Theresa May (Conservative – Maidenhead)
Jerome Mayhew (Conservative – Broadland)
Paul Maynard (Conservative – Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Jason McCartney (Conservative – Colne Valley)
Karl McCartney (Conservative – Lincoln)
Mark Menzies (Conservative – Fylde)
Huw Merriman (Conservative – Bexhill and Battle)
Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative – South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Robin Millar (Conservative – Aberconwy)
Maria Miller (Conservative – Basingstoke)
Nigel Mills (Conservative – Amber Valley)
Andrew Mitchell (Conservative – Sutton Coldfield)
Gagan Mohindra (Conservative – South West Hertfordshire)
Damien Moore (Conservative – Southport)
Robbie Moore (Conservative – Keighley)
Penny Mordaunt (Conservative – Portsmouth North)
David Morris (Conservative – Morecambe and Lunesdale)
James Morris (Conservative – Halesowen and Rowley Regis)
Joy Morrissey (Conservative – Beaconsfield)
Jill Mortimer (Conservative – Hartlepool)
Kieran Mullan (Conservative – Crewe and Nantwich)
Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative – Scunthorpe)
David Mundell (Conservative – Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Sheryll Murray (Conservative – South East Cornwall)
Andrew Murrison (Conservative – South West Wiltshire)
Robert Neill (Conservative – Bromley and Chislehurst)
Lia Nici (Conservative – Great Grimsby)
Caroline Nokes (Conservative – Romsey and Southampton North)
Jesse Norman (Conservative – Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Neil O’Brien (Conservative – Harborough)
Guy Opperman (Conservative – Hexham)
Neil Parish (Conservative – Tiverton and Honiton)
Priti Patel (Conservative – Witham)
Owen Paterson (Conservative – North Shropshire)
Mark Pawsey (Conservative – Rugby)
Mike Penning (Conservative – Hemel Hempstead)
John Penrose (Conservative – Weston-super-Mare)
Chris Philp (Conservative – Croydon South)
Christopher Pincher (Conservative – Tamworth)
Dan Poulter (Conservative – Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Rebecca Pow (Conservative – Taunton Deane)
Victoria Prentis (Conservative – Banbury)
Tom Pursglove (Conservative – Corby)
Will Quince (Conservative – Colchester)
Tom Randall (Conservative – Gedling)
Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative – North East Somerset)
Nicola Richards (Conservative – West Bromwich East)
Angela Richardson (Conservative – Guildford)
Rob Roberts (Independent – Delyn)
Laurence Robertson (Conservative – Tewkesbury)
Mary Robinson (Conservative – Cheadle)
Douglas Ross (Conservative – Moray)
Lee Rowley (Conservative – North East Derbyshire)
Dean Russell (Conservative – Watford)
Gary Sambrook (Conservative – Birmingham, Northfield)
Selaine Saxby (Conservative – North Devon)
Paul Scully (Conservative – Sutton and Cheam)
Andrew Selous (Conservative – South West Bedfordshire)
Grant Shapps (Conservative – Welwyn Hatfield)
Alok Sharma (Conservative – Reading West)
Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative – Elmet and Rothwell)
David Simmonds (Conservative – Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Chris Skidmore (Conservative – Kingswood)
Chloe Smith (Conservative – Norwich North)
Greg Smith (Conservative – Buckingham)
Julian Smith (Conservative – Skipton and Ripon)
Royston Smith (Conservative – Southampton, Itchen)
Amanda Solloway (Conservative – Derby North)
Ben Spencer (Conservative – Runnymede and Weybridge)
Mark Spencer (Conservative – Sherwood)
Alexander Stafford (Conservative – Rother Valley)
Jane Stevenson (Conservative – Wolverhampton North East)
Bob Stewart (Conservative – Beckenham)
Iain Stewart (Conservative – Milton Keynes South)
Gary Streeter (Conservative – South West Devon)
Mel Stride (Conservative – Central Devon)
Graham Stuart (Conservative – Beverley and Holderness)
James Sunderland (Conservative – Bracknell)
Desmond Swayne (Conservative – New Forest West)
Robert Syms (Conservative – Poole)
Derek Thomas (Conservative – St Ives)
Maggie Throup (Conservative – Erewash)
Edward Timpson (Conservative – Eddisbury)
Kelly Tolhurst (Conservative – Rochester and Strood)
Justin Tomlinson (Conservative – North Swindon)
Michael Tomlinson (Conservative – Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Craig Tracey (Conservative – North Warwickshire)
Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative – Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Laura Trott (Conservative – Sevenoaks)
Elizabeth Truss (Conservative – South West Norfolk)
Shailesh Vara (Conservative – North West Cambridgeshire)
Martin Vickers (Conservative – Cleethorpes)
Matt Vickers (Conservative – Stockton South)
Theresa Villiers (Conservative – Chipping Barnet)
Christian Wakeford (Conservative – Bury South)
Robin Walker (Conservative – Worcester)
Charles Walker (Conservative – Broxbourne)
Jamie Wallis (Conservative – Bridgend)
David Warburton (Conservative – Somerton and Frome)
Matt Warman (Conservative – Boston and Skegness)
Suzanne Webb (Conservative – Stourbridge)
Helen Whately (Conservative – Faversham and Mid Kent)
Heather Wheeler (Conservative – South Derbyshire)
Craig Whittaker (Conservative – Calder Valley)
John Whittingdale (Conservative – Maldon)
Bill Wiggin (Conservative – North Herefordshire)
James Wild (Conservative – North West Norfolk)
Craig Williams (Conservative – Montgomeryshire)
Gavin Williamson (Conservative – South Staffordshire)
Mike Wood (Conservative – Dudley South)
William Wragg (Conservative – Hazel Grove)
Jeremy Wright (Conservative – Kenilworth and Southam)
Jacob Young (Conservative – Redcar)
Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative – Stratford-on-Avon)
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