Most Britons support tax rises to fund the NHS

The majority of voters in the UK are reportedly prepared to pay more tax in order to fund the NHS.

A face-to-face survey, carried out last year, revealed one of the biggest opinion shifts on the issue of NHS taxation.

The survey, undertaken by the British Social Attitudes centre, revealed a jump from 41% support for higher taxes in 2014 to a staggering 61% at the end of last year.

It revealed a similar rise in views about the quality of NHS care, with nearly three times as people admitting that healthcare was declining – with only a fifth of people anticipating a major improvement.

Specifically, it found that 61 percent of people supported tax rises to fund the NHS, a marked increase of 21 percentage points from 2014 and 12 percentage points from 2016.

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Another 35% also backed the option of creating a separate tax that would go directly to the health service.

The tax support comes after Theresa May promised increasing funding for the NHS, although only after a forthcoming spending review.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the health service, said that ‘cries for more funding are unequivocal’.

He told the Press Association: ‘It is up to government how it raises funds for public services, but these figures clearly show that more of the public across the UK support more resources for the NHS and that they are willing to pay more tax to bring that about.

‘The case for more money for both health and social care has been made and it is overwhelming. Just about everyone is calling on the Government to act.

‘Without action, our health and care system will continue to deteriorate; millions will wait, more will suffer and some will die.It is now clear that the cries for more funding are unequivocal.’