Inside Politics: PM facing rebellion on social care plan branded ‘inheritance tax on the north’

Critics say poorest will be hit hardest by changes to social care cap as MPs expected to vote on amendment tonight, writes Matt Mathers

(PA)

There’s no rest for the wicked. Following a bruising two weeks over his handling of the Paterson scandal and then diluted rail plans, Boris Johnson now potentially faces a backbench rebellion by MPs angry at his social care plans, which were sneaked out last week while eyes in Westminster were fixed on the high drama of a vote on second jobs and the PM’s appearance at a select committee. Labour and some red wall Tories are expressing concern at changes to the social care costs cap, saying they will hit the poorest hardest. A vote is expected at 10pm tonight and while Downing Street is unlikely to lose it, pushing through the plans will further sour No 10’s relationship with its northern MPs, whose patience is already being tested over the PM’s “levelling up” agenda. Elsewhere, MPs may be using private companies to reduce their tax bills, Priti Patel is coming under pressure over migrant crossings and the EU is calling on the UK to stop “posturing” in Brexit talks.

Inside the bubble

Commons sits from 2.30pm with Home Office questions followed by any post-weekend statements or urgent questions will be heard. Much of the rest of the afternoon will be consumed by a debate on the health and social care bill, with a potential vote tonight.

Coming up:

– Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth on talkRADIO at 8.05am

– Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi on LBC at 9am

Daily Briefing

CAPPING OFF: Just days after breaking promises on HS2 and northern powerhouse rail, Johnson faces another reckoning with some of his backbench MPs over watered down plans for social care, which were sneaked out last week on a busy news day. An amendment published by Downing Street proposes that support payments from councils would not count towards the £86,000 cap on personal care costs. Charities and campaigners have warned that the changes will hit the poorest hardest, with some Conservatives in red wall seats describing the plans as an “inheritance tax on the north”. Labour branded the move a “con” and is calling on MPs on the government benches to rebel and vote down the amendment. Andrew Percy, the Conservative MP for Brigg and Goole, questioned the impact of the proposals on poorer communities, particularly in the north, telling The Independent: “I’m very concerned about what I’ve seen of the changes so far.” Government U-turns are very much in vogue at the moment – don’t rule out another one by the end of the week.

‘DANGEROUS FAILINGS’: Another story not going away and causing significant consternation in Downing Street is the issue of migrant Channel crossings. Record numbers of people are making the treacherous journey in search of a better life, with pictures over the weekend showing adults carrying children wrapped in blankets were seen arriving on the southeast coast of England with the help of lifeboat crews. The PM has been warned by a prominent Tory donor that the issue could “destroy” his party and give rise to a new Farage-style outfit, outflanking the Tories on the right. Upping the pressure on Priti Patel on Sunday, Labour accused the home secretary of “dangerous failings” on the issue and claimed she is more concerned with “diplomatic spats” with the French government than finding workable solutions. Speaking on Sky News, shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said Patel was “comprehensively failing in this policy, and it appears the prime minister agrees because he seems to be putting a minister for the Cabinet Office in charge of a review of this”. He added: “The home secretary’s failure is a dangerous failure. Sajid Javid, the health secretary, defended his cabinet colleague, saying she was doing a “huge amount of work” to break people smugglers’ business model.

EASY SLEAZY: Sleaze allegations are not going away either and this morning’s Times splash could take the story in a new direction, with the paper reporting that Tory MP Mark Pritchard is among at least 10 MPs who have channelled hundreds of thousands of pounds in private consultancy work through personal companies in a move that may have significantly reduced their tax bills. Elsewhere, the prospect of Johnson facing a fresh investigation into his relationship with Jennifer Arcuri is drawing closer after the businesswoman agreed to hand over her diaries to an ethics watchdog. Arcuri, who alleged earlier this year that she had a four-year romantic relationship with the PM when he was mayor of London, has agreed to let the monitoring officer at the Greater London Authority inspect parts of her diaries.

‘POSTURING’: European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic has accused the UK of “political posturing” and urged Brexit minister David Frost and his negotiating team to stop “bringing...new problems to the table”. With differences remaining on ways to solve issues relating to Northern Ireland, Sefcovic said that “if there is a genuine problem” with the protocol, “we can find the solutions” – but said that the two sides would have to work together. Appearing on The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC, Sefcovic was asked why he could not accept proposals that goods which were not going to leave Northern Ireland should be treated in one way while goods that may cross into the Republic should be handled differently. He said: “Would the UK accept not to have the overview of what’s coming to the UK market? Would they accept it? I don’t think so.“And you just simply have to understand that, if something is coming to the EU single market, we have to have an overview.”

GREEN PLANS: New homes, supermarkets and workplaces will be required to install electric vehicle charging points as standard from 2022, under new regulations to be announced by the PM.Ahead of the ban on the sale of new fossil fuel vehicles in 2030, the prime minister will say the move will result in an extra 145,000 charging points each year before the end of the decade.According to the latest available figures from the Department for Transport (DfT), the UK has just 25,927 public electric vehicle charging devices available, including 4,923 rapid chargers. The action forms part of the government’s attempts to reach the legally binding net zero target by 2050 and comes after a report earlier this year by the Competition and Markets Authority suggesting at least 280-480,000 public charging points will be needed by 2030.

On the record

“I’m very concerned about what I’ve seen of the changes so far. The whole purpose of this should be to protect the assets of those who have the least. We can’t end up in a situation where those with the least – who’ve worked just as hard as other people – who happen to live in areas with lower house-price growth are thereby paying the same as people who’ve benefitted from house prices just because of where they live.”

Tory MP Andrew Percy on government’s social care plan.

From the Twitterati

“Lots of anger among Tory MPs on social care changes – snuck out on Weds – with vote expected tomorrow.”

Daily Mirror politics editor Pippa Crerar detects anger among Tory MPs.

Essential reading

• Jess Phillips, The Independent: One broken promise too far – the nation has turned on Boris Johnson
• Bel Trew, The Independent: British citizens in Syria are not someone else’s problem – but our government seeks to abandon them
• Andrew Rawnsley, The Guardian: The PM has united every Tory faction – in anger at him
• Michael Sheridan, The Times: How Xi Jinping became the world’s most powerful man

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