UK PM's planned tax hike for social care triggers fury within ruling party

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference inside the Downing Street Briefing Room in London, Britain July 12, 2021. Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to hike taxes to fund social care has provoked fury among many of his own lawmakers, who fear that such a clear violation of his election promises shows he is happy to oversee a sweeping expansion of the state.

After the fiscal splurge on the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson is now addressing Britain's creaking social care system, whose costs will soar as the population ages, while facing numerous other thorny policy matters.