Voting against one’s own party is never an easy decision, but as far as reasons to do so go, this one was close to bullet-proof: the 2019 Conservative manifesto ruled out an NI tax hike in black and white. Layer on top of that the Tory philosophy of reducing the tax burden and encouraging growth (especially in the aftermath of a pandemic), opposing the tax hike was a rather simple case to make. But in the end, only 10 Tory MPs voted against the Government in the final vote, while just over 40 abstained.

A belated “tax mutiny” is now building up on the backbenches, as more MPs realise that overseeing the tax burden rising to a 71-year-high – and breaking a manifesto pledge – is not a great look for the Conservative Party. But the calls, so far, are to scrap the funding mechanism, rather than the policy it is meant to fund. It is yet another reminder of the extent to which the Tory party has lost its way on fiscal responsibility. Tax receipts may be coming in slightly higher than expected, and borrowing bills slightly lower, but none of these temporary figures add up to a long-term funding scheme for £12bn-worth of health and care-home spending.

And given Britain’s changing demographics, the cost of social care is only on track to rise over time. Introducing such a scheme without a clear funding mechanism would come to define fiscally irresponsible action.

This isn’t exactly a new challenge for Chancellor Rishi Sunak. With the Government having discovered a “magic money tree” in the backyard of the Bank of England during the Covid crisis, he’s spent the better part of two years fending off spending requests from his own party (and Prime Minister) who have been tempted to treat day-to-day spending as emergency spending, to justify more borrowing.