MPs voiced their opposition to chancellor Rachel Reeves’ controversial plans to increase national insurance contributions in parliament this week, warning the measure will put community pharmacies at risk and damage Labour’s ambition of fixing deep-rooted problems in the NHS.

In her autumn budget, Reeves said private businesses, pharmacies, GPs, care homes and hospices will pay national insurance at 15 per cent on salaries above £5,000 from next April compared with 13.8 per cent above £9,100 which they currently pay.

In a Commons debate on Tuesday, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough Tom Gordon urged the government to invest in pharmacies and insisted: “We know that every pound spent saves countless more for the NHS.”

Sarah Gibson, the Liberal Democrat MP for Chippenham, criticised the national insurance rise and said pharmacists and other healthcare providers “feel taken for granted, let down and scared.”

“These healthcare providers, which include GP surgeries, dental practices, healthcare operators and pharmacies, are small businesses operating in the heart of our communities. They did so much with so little over the last 14 years under the Conservatives,” she said.

Edward Argar, the Conservative MP for Melton and Syston, said Reeves’ budget contained no details of how already financially stretched pharmacies will be supported.

Questioning how Labour intends to “address the challenge of social care,” he said: “There was no support for pharmacies or for the day-to-day running of general practice, and there were still no additional resources for the NHS this winter or, indeed, the details of reform to go with them.”

The Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight East Joe Robertson said the national insurance rise “will cause great difficulty and hardship” for pharmacies and other healthcare providers who he said are “crucial providers of health services.”

“I urge the Government to go back to the drawing board and provide for our GPs, dentistry, pharmacies, hospices and social care,” he said.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh Liz Jarvis urged Reeves to “consider exempting GPs, small businesses, pharmacies, dentists, care homes and charities from the proposed increase to employer national insurance contributions.”

Victoria Collins, the Liberal Democrat MP Harpenden and Berkhamsted, said: “Without an exemption from the tax rise, the vast majority of health and care providers that are private companies, including hospices and pharmacies, will not benefit, further threatening the integrity of the Government’s commitment to the NHS.”