Inside Politics: Johnson warned social care plan won’t fix crisis as MPs expected to vote through reforms

Boris Johnson appears to have successfully seen off a major Tory rebellion on his social care reforms, with MPs expected to comfortably pass new measures later today. Elsewhere, businesses have been told they can dump sewage in rivers due to Brexit and Covid supply chain issues, and Nicola Sturgeon has set out her party’s plan for government.

Former footballer Anton Ferdinand is among those speaking to the home affairs committee about online harms at 10am. Priti Patel, the home secretary, will attend a G7 meeting of ministers in London and is expected to hold talks with her French counterpart about the number of migrants crossing the Channel to the UK. Johnson and Starmer face off at PMQ’s for the first time since the summer recess and there is a vote on the government’s health and social care levy at around 7pm.

Coming up:

-Health secretary Sajid Javid on ITV Good Morning Britain at 8.30am

-Labour’s Manchester mayor Andy Burnham on BBC Breakfast at 8.30am

Daily Briefing

THE DEALIN’S DONE: The PM’s move to press ahead with a tax rise to fund health and social care leads most major outlets this morning, with several framing the decision as his biggest gamble yet. Social care leaders and charities are warning Johnson that his £12bn-a-year tax raid will fail to end the crisis that has left 1.6 million elderly and disabled people without help, after most of the cash was diverted to the NHS.

‘NOT ENOUGH’: Edel Harris, chief executive of the learning disability charity Mencap, said: “[The] announcement won’t be enough to fix the crisis that is happening right now. People who need care are missing out, others are having their support cut and some are being asked to pay towards their care which they simply can’t afford.” Phillip Anderson, head of policy at the MS Society, supporting people with multiple sclerosis, added: “Sadly, today’s announcement has not been worth the wait.” MPs will vote on the plan later and while Labour is opposed, the measures are widely expected to pass as the Tory revolt melts away in the late summer heat. It was a manifesto pledge busting day for the government: Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, also confirmed the pensions triple lock is to be suspended for a year.

NAT GOT A DETAILED PLAN: Nicola Sturgeon set out the SNP’s programme for government in Scotland yesterday. As expected, independence from the UK featured in the first minister’s address, although there was scant detail on the plan, other than an “aim” to hold a vote before the end of 2023. “I can confirm that the Scottish government will now restart work on the detailed prospectus,” she said. “The case for independence is a strong one and we will present it openly, frankly and with confidence and ambition.”

UP SH*T CREEK: Is Brexit just a load of crap? Amid the well-documented supply chain and lorry driver shortage crises, ministers have given businesses the green light to dump the brown stuff in Britain’s rivers. Some companies have found it more difficult to get hold of water treatment chemicals because of supply chain disruption at ports blamed primarily on the UK’s departure from the EU. The Environment Agency this week said companies struggling to get hold of such products would be allowed to “discharge effluent without meeting the conditions” of their permits, which normally require water to be treated. The Green Party is furious. Amelia Womack, deputy leader, said: “This is a failure of their understanding on how our country’s most basic infrastructure works and using our environment as a dumping ground rather than addressing the root causes of the problem. “To prevent further Brexit chaos and undermining of environmental protections, the government must work to mend supply chains and work to cooperate rather than trying to look ‘tough’.” The government says the measures are “strictly time-limited and there are robust conditions in place to mitigate risks to the environment”. Maybe best to avoid wild swimming for a while.

UC VOTE AXED: Labour’s plans to hold an imminent vote on the controversial cut to universal credit payments have been pulled just weeks before the £20-per-week uplift ends. Instead, the government announced it was earmarking time on Wednesday for a separate vote on the newly announced health and social care levy, which flouts a key Conservative election manifesto pledge. Labour had been scheduled to hold an opposition day debate on the issue tomorrow, calling on the government “to cancel its planned cut to universal credit” from the end of September 2021. It was not immediately clear whether the vote would be rescheduled before the universal credit payments are reduced, but the Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg is expected to update MPs on Thursday.

HANCOCK’S HALF QUESTION: Matt Hancock is said to be one of the more optimistic MPs in Westminster. But surely not even he reckons it could be time for a return to the front line? With speculation rife that a cabinet reshuffle is just around the corner, the former health secretary popped up in the chamber yesterday to praise his boss’s social care plan before asking a very helpful question. But judging by the reaction of his peers, it could be a long while yet before he’s taken seriously. Hancock was laughed at as he spoke in the House of Commons for the first time since resigning.

“Read my lips: the Tories can never again claim to be the party of low tax.”

Starmer on health and social care levy.

“Tories are in an uncomfortable ideological knot. A party that fought for centuries for individual liberty is now advancing the state’s reach. ”

Financial Times Whitehall editor Sebastian Payne on Tory Party.