Poll finds half of voters would pay more tax to fund NHS

Almost half of all voters would be willing to pay more tax if it meant funding the NHS, a new poll has found.

According to the ComRes survey in today’s Guardian, 49% of people would pay more if the money was going directly to the health service, while only 33% are opposed to the idea. 18% said they did not know.

This is not the first indication that the general public are open to the idea of tax rises if it means more money for the NHS – a poll at the beginning of July found that more than half were in favour. Today’s poll shows a far greater number of don’t knows than the previous one, with both for and against dropping support in equal numbers.

With the NHS facing a funding gap that some estimates put as high as £30bn by 2020, these polls will be carefully assessed by all parties as way to avoid a crisis. It has already been suggested by some this summer that Labour are considering raising National Insurance (NI) in order to fund NHS spending – although some are warning against that particular tax rise.

Today sees the start of a 300-mile march to protest the Government’s “destruction” of the NHS. Following the route of the famous Jarrow March for jobs in the 1930s, 11 women will set off from Jarrow Town Hall, reaching London on September 6. They are encouraging people to join them along the way to highlight the damage caused by the Coalition Health and Social Care Act – which Labour have pledged to repeal if elected next year.