Brown Prepared To Raise Taxes To Fund NHS

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

06 February 2002

In the first interview since his return to work, Chancellor Gordon Brown stated that a tax hike in order to fund the National Health Service was not out of the question, indicating a return to his previous statements on the subject.

Although in his November pre-budget statement, the Chancellor refused to rule out tax increases, in early January the Government seemed to be backing away from the idea in favour of increases in national insurance contributions, worried that they were being portrayed as a 'tax and spend' government in the Old Labour model.

Government sources at the time claimed that the possibility of tax increases had been 'overplayed' by the media. However, questioned by The Times on Monday, Gordon Brown revealed: 'I have not ruled out tax changes'.

As well as putting the NHS back 'on a sustainable long-term footing so that reform is matched by the resources necessary, the Chancellor promised that his April 17 budget would be a 'budget for enterprise and public services.'

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