A TORY plan to hike National Insurance (NI) contributions will add to the “intergenerational unfairness” being imposed on younger generations, the SNP’s Westminster leader has said.

Ian Blackford said young people were being forced to pay the “price of Westminster failure” as he warned Boris Johnson’s plan will unfairly hit young people, low paid workers and Scottish families.

As MPs return to Westminster, he said the young “are getting an increasingly bad deal from the UK Government” and being forced to shoulder the burden of regressive tax rises, £9250-a-year university tuition fees, skyrocketing house prices, poorer pension prospects, and increased costs for travel, dentistry, prescriptions and other charges.

Blackford said the Tory plan to impose a regressive NI increase stood in stark contrast to the approach taken by the Scottish Government, which has funded social care provisions from current budgets, scrapped tuition fees, invested in affordable and social housing, and introduced a wide range of benefits to support young people from birth.

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“Yet again, young people are being forced to pay the price of Westminster failure and shoulder the burden of another regressive Tory tax hike,” said Blackford.

“Boris Johnson’s damaging plan to increase National Insurance will unfairly hammer young people, low paid workers and Scottish families with hundreds of pounds in costs each year – and add to the intergenerational unfairness that Westminster has imposed on younger generations.

“Young people are getting an increasingly bad deal from the UK Government, which is failing to deliver its side of the social contract.

“Under the Tories, young people face regressive tax rises, thousands in university tuition fee debt, stagnant wages, skyrocketing house prices, poorer pensions, and increased charges for basic necessities like travel, dentistry, and prescriptions.”

He added: “In stark contrast, the Scottish Government has funded social care provisions from current budgets and invested in young people by scrapping tuition fees, building affordable housing, protecting the Education Maintenance Allowance, and introducing a range of progressive benefits from birth – including the Best Start Grant, the Scottish Child Payment, free bus travel for under 22s, free prescriptions and free dentistry.

“It’s not acceptable for Westminster to endlessly add to the growing burden that young people face, while stripping them of the benefits that previous generations enjoyed.

“Nor is it acceptable to effectively impose a new Tory poll tax on Scottish families – who would be forced to pay for a crisis in England caused by the failure of Westminster governments it didn’t vote for.

“Boris Johnson must go back to the drawing board and think again.”

Former chancellor Philip Hammond has also criticised Johnson’s plans, saying they were “wrong” and would provoke a “very significant backlash”.

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He added to the growing number of senior Tories warning the Prime Minister not to go ahead with the manifesto-breaking move expected to be announced this week.

Critics across party lines argue that increasing NI to cover reforms in England will disproportionately affect younger and lower income workers, while pensioners will not pay extra.

Johnson, Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have been thrashing out the details, with a tax increase also expected to finance tackling the NHS backlog.

Hammond said: “Economically, politically, expanding the state further in order to protect private assets by asking poor people to subsidise rich people has got to be the wrong thing to do.”