Jeremy Hunt pledges further national insurance cut in the autumn ‘if we can afford it’

Published

1 year ago

May 17, 2024

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Jeremy Hunt has pledged to cut national insurance again in the autumn “if we can afford” it.

The chancellor has lowered the tax twice since he entered Number 11, which the government says has saved people an average of £900 a year.

But speaking at an event in London on Friday, he said “we’re not stopping there”, adding: “If we can afford to go further to responsibly reduce the double tax on work this autumn, that is what I will do.

“We make no apology for wanting to keep cutting the double tax on work until it’s gone, but only when we could do so without increasing borrowing and without cutting funding for public services or pensions.”

Politics live: Hunt attacks Labour in tax speech

Mr Hunt has said he plans to abolish NI entirely at some point in the future, claiming it is “unfair that we tax work twice” when other forms of income are only subject to one levy.

But Labour has attacked the Conservatives for failing to explain how they would pay for the move – which it estimates will cost £46bn – saying it could “lead to higher borrowing, higher taxes on pensioners or the end of the state pension as we know it”.

Answering questions from reporters after the speech, Mr Hunt condemned Labour’s remarks as “nonsense” and “fake news”, adding: “Our ambition has no time commitment because we’ve been explicit that we will only deliver it when it can be afforded. It will come through growth in the economy and not by increasing borrowing or cutting spending.

“It is frankly disgusting to try to scare pensioners by misrepresenting that policy.”

He instead claimed Labour had £38bn of unfunded spending pledges for the next parliament that could only be covered by raising taxes.

“Taxes will go up under any future Labour government, as sure as night follows day,” the chancellor said.

“But taxes will go down under a Conservative government because we will do the hard work necessary to keep our economy competitive.”

However, he would not guarantee a timescale for such reductions.

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Mr Hunt told Sky News: “If you’re saying can I look into a crystal ball and predict what is going to happen in the world in the next five or 10 years, and therefore give you a cast-iron guarantee of when we will be able to reduce the tax burden and to what level? The answer is, of course I can’t. And it would be irresponsible to do so.

“That is why, by the way, our commitments to abolish the double tax on work – employees’ national insurance – we haven’t put a time limit on it because it will depend on factors that are beyond our control, such as the overall growth in the economy as to when we can afford it.

“But my commitment is that the tax burden will go down under a future Conservative government.”

Mr Hunt also refused to commit to lowering tax thresholds if the Tories stayed in power – something dubbed a “stealth tax” by government critics, as more people move into paying tax as wages increase, but thresholds stay the same.

The speech follows a major Labour event on Thursday where Sir Keir Starmer outlined his “first steps” for government if his party were to win power at the next election – the first of which was offering “economic stability”.

Mr Hunt defended the government’s handling of the economy, despite the fall out of Liz Truss’ disastrous mini Budget, saying it was a “myth” that the UK was performing worse than other similar countries.

“Since 2010, the UK economy has faced not one but three massive external shocks dealing with the consequences of the financial crisis, a once-in-a-century pandemic and a 1970s-style energy shock caused by the invasion of Ukraine,” he said.

“Each time, Conservative governments have done what people elected Conservative governments to do – to take the tough and difficult decisions necessary to put the economy back on its feet.”

The race is set for Downing Street – and there is months of this to come

Rob Powell

Political correspondent

@robpowellnews

For the second day in a row, we have a political event that made the general election feel six weeks away, rather than six months.

Did both Labour and the Tories book venues for a summer campaign before discovering they couldn’t cancel the rooms? We’ll never know.

But what we do have a clearer idea of is the contours of the coming race for Downing Street.

The focus for the chancellor today was tax.
Not that you need to be told that by me, given Jeremy Hunt was stood next to three signs proclaiming “Labour’s Tax rises” – positioned in the spots usually reserved for slogans that set out a party’s own ambitions.

If that wasn’t strange enough, we were then treated to the sight of Mr Hunt admitting he was indeed the bloke who put up taxes by £20bn just two years ago – despite the words inches from his head suggesting it’s the other guys who have been whacking up your bills.

To flesh out this attack line, the chancellor said he was talking about future changes and cited costings of Labour policies showing a spending black hole that could only be filled through tax rises.

Labour called that “desperate” and pinged across a document showing the exact same costings applied to the Tory ambition to abolish national insurance.

What could that lead to? You guessed it. Tax rises. And not just tax rises. Tax rises… for pensioners. That was a suggestion Jeremy Hunt said was “fake news… a lie”.

Talk to economists and they’ll tell you taxes are going to have to go up whoever is in power for the coming years to pay for increasing spending on healthcare, defence and pensions.

The alternative would be for swingeing and likely fanciful cuts in other public services.

So there’s a grain of truth in what both parties are saying, but as ever – it sits in a deeper pool of spin and obfuscation.

I hope you’re not getting bored – there’s months of this to come.

Pointing to falls in inflation – a key pledge of Rishi Sunak – and the news the UK has now exited a technical recession, the chancellor said: “To point out, as the Labour Party do, that living standards have fallen this parliament, without mentioning the pandemic or the energy crisis, is taking everyone for fools.”

He claimed Labour’s economic policies would be “profound and damaging for every family in the country”.

But a Labour spokesperson said his speech was “another desperate attempt by the Tories to deflect from their £46bn unfunded tax plan”, adding: “All of Labour’s policies are fully costed and fully funded. Unlike the Conservatives who crashed the economy, Labour will never play fast and loose with the public finances.”

The Liberal Democrats also had a pop at the chancellor, with their Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney saying: “Jeremy Hunt owes an apology to the millions of hardworking Brits who will be forced to pay more tax as a result of his swindling budgets.

“The Conservative Party is trying to take the British public for fools with this shameless attempt to erase Liz Truss’ botched budget and their unfair tax hikes.

“Voters across the country and in his marginal Surrey constituency will see right through this. Jeremy Hunt cannot defend his record of soaring mortgages, rocketing food prices and crippling tax rises.”

Politics

Trump says Musk ‘off the rails’ for forming political party to rival GOP

Published

5 hours ago

July 7, 2025

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Trump says Musk ‘off the rails’ for forming political party to rival GOP

US President Donald Trump has blasted Elon Musk’s plan to start a new political party that could splinter the Republican vote in the 2026 midterm elections.

Politics

MP recalls childhood abuse as he calls for law change to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence

Published

6 hours ago

July 7, 2025

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MP recalls childhood abuse as he calls for law change to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence

An MP who decided until recently to “never speak” about the abuse he suffered as a child has shared his harrowing story so that “no kid has to go through” what he did.

Josh Babarinde describes being physically abused by his mother’s former partner from the age of four, and remembers crying himself to sleep under the covers “hearing shouts, hearing screams and things smash”.

He says he became hypervigilant growing up and felt safe at school but “like he was treading on eggshells” in his own home.

The Eastbourne MP, who is also the Liberal Democrats’ justice spokesperson, says his experience has driven his politics. He is calling on the government to stop abusers “slipping through the net” and being released from prison early.

Opening up about his story in his twenties was “difficult” but looking back, Mr Babarinde says, he is “so proud of the resilience of that kid”.

The MP recently found his childhood diary containing Star Wars drawings alongside an entry he wrote from the bathroom. The diary, he recalls, wrote: “I’m really going to try to go (to the toilet) but I can’t. Oh my goodness, I’m gonna be in so much trouble, I’m going to get smacked so hard.”

Then an entry five minutes later: “I still haven’t done anything, I’m going to be in so much trouble.”

He says reading the entry reminded him of how “helpless” he felt.

“It was mortifying,” he says. “An abuser takes away your sense of self-worth.”

The 32-year-old is calling on the government to change the law to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence. The change would mean, he argues, abusers can no longer effectively disguise their history under other offences like assault.

He says the Ministry of Justice’s early release scheme, which has seen thousands of prisoners released early to ease overcrowding, has failed to exclude domestic abusers despite government promises because there is no formal categorisation for offenders.

It is impossible, he argues, to know exactly how many domestic abusers are in prison currently so perpetrators are “slipping through the net” on early release.

Mr Babarinde says the uncertainty means victims and survivors are not able to prepare for their abuser’s release.

He said: “They might need to move house or move their kids to a new school, shop in different places. All of these kind of things are so important, and so that’s why that commitment the government made was so important.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “Our thoughts are with all victims of domestic abuse – it takes immense courage to speak out.

“We are building a justice system that puts victims first – strengthening support, increasing transparency, and giving people the confidence to come forward and be heard.”

Politics

Another tantrum from the Labour backbenches is inevitable

Published

18 hours ago

July 6, 2025

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

In common with many parents across the country, here’s a conversation that I have with my young daughter on a semi-regular basis (bear with me, this will take on some political relevance eventually).

Me: “So it’s 15 minutes until your bedtime, you can either have a little bit of TV or do a jigsaw, not both.”

Daughter: “Ummmm, I want to watch TV.”

Me: “That’s fine, but it’s bed after that, you can’t do a jigsaw as well.”

Fast-forward 15 minutes.

Me: “Right, TV off now please, bedtime.”

(Pause)

Daughter: “I want to do a jigsaw.”

Now replace me with the government, the TV and jigsaw options with axing welfare cuts and scrapping the two-child cap, and my daughter with rebellious backbenchers.

Politics latest: Former Labour leader calls for wealth tax on assets above £10m

That is the tension currently present between Downing Street and Labour MPs. And my initial ultimatum is the messaging being pumped out from the government this weekend.

In essence: you’ve had your welfare U-turn, so there’s no money left for the two-child cap to go as well.

As an aside – and before my inbox fills with angry emails lambasting me for using such a crude metaphor for policies that fundamentally alter the lives of some of the most vulnerable in society – yes, I hear you, and that’s part of my point.

For many in Labour, this approach feels like the lives of their constituents are being used in a childish game of horse-trading.

So what can be done?

Well, the government could change the rules.

Altering the fiscal rules is – and will likely remain – an extremely unlikely solution. But as it happens, one of Labour’s proverbial grandparents has just popped round with a different suggestion.

A wealth tax, Lord Neil Kinnock says, is the necessary outcome of the economic restrictions the party has placed on itself.

Ever the Labour storyteller, Lord Kinnock believes this would allow the government to craft a more compelling narrative about whose side this administration is on.

That could be valuable, given one of the big gripes from many backbench critics is that they still don’t really understand what this prime minister stands for – and by extension, what all these “difficult decisions” are in aid of.

The downside is whether it will actually raise much money.

The super-rich may have lots of assets to take a slice from, but they also have expensive lawyers ready to find novel ways to keep their client’s cash away from the prying eyes of the state.

Or, of course, they could just leave – as many are doing already.

In the short term, the future is a bit easier to predict.

If Downing Street is indeed now saying there is no money to scrap the two-child cap (after heavy briefing in the opposite direction just weeks ago), an almighty tantrum from the backbenches is inevitable.

And as every parent knows, the more you give in, the harder it becomes to hold the line.