UK education minister backs April tax hike

LONDON - Britain's education minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Monday he still supported a tax hike due to come in from April, after a media report suggested that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's ministers would back a delay.

The Daily Mail said on Monday that the entire cabinet would back a move to delay the rise in national insurance that is due to come in from April, the same month that energy bills are set to jump.

Asked for his position by BBC TV, Zahawi said he would not back a delay because the money was needed to support Britain's social care system. "It is the right thing to do," he said.