The amount employers pay in national insurance is set to rise in next week’s budget to raise money for public services, Sky News understands.
Reports have suggested it could be increased by up to two percentage points and will – in part – be used to help fund the NHS.
A government source told Sky News: “There is a universal consensus that the NHS needs more money.
“That means asking businesses to help out.
“The choice is investment versus decline. She [Rachel Reeves] is choosing not to ask working people to pay the price for their [Conservatives’] failures.”
According to The Times newspaper, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is also expected to make a significant cut to the earnings thresholds at which employers start making national insurance contributions.
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The combined measures are expected to raise about £20bn and will represent the biggest tax rise in the budget.
The burden will reportedly fall entirely on the private sector, with public sector employers such as government departments and the NHS being reimbursed by the Treasury to avoid cuts.
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On Friday, much of the budget chat focused on Labour’s definition of a “working person”.
The party’s manifesto said it would not increase taxes on working people, including VAT, national insurance, and income tax.
This has prompted repeated questions about who the government considers to fall under that umbrella and therefore would not impose tax rises on.
During a broadcast interview at a Commonwealth summit in Samoa, Sir Keir Starmer told Sky News he does not consider people who have an income from assets such as shares of property to be working people.
“They wouldn’t come within my definition,” he said.
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Reacting to questions from journalists, Ms Reeves said the prime minister is a “working person”.
Speaking to LBC, she said: “The prime minister gets his income from going out to work and working for our country.
“He’s a working person. He goes out to work.”
Treasury minister James Murray told Sky News that “a working person is someone who goes out to work and who gets their income from work”.
Pushed further on whether a working person could also get income from shares or property, Mr Murray added: “We’re talking about where people get their money from, and so working people get their money from going out to work.
“And it’s that money that we’re talking about in terms of those commitments we made around income tax, around national insurance.
“That’s what’s important to focus on, where people are getting their money from, getting their money from going out to work.”
Police have made a direct appeal to those involved in the murder of a teenager to finally bring her family closure, exactly 30 years after she disappeared.
Lindsay Rimer, 13, went out to buy a box of Corn Flakes late in the evening on 7 November 1994 and never returned home. Her body was found in a canal close to her home six months later.
Lindsay’s family have also marked this year’s anniversary with a renewed appeal for information from the public, particularly in the town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire where Lindsay lived and died.
“This person should be in prison, not us because that’s where we feel we’ve been for the last 30 years,” her sister Kate Rimer told Sky News.
Juliet Rimer was just one when her sister was killed but has recently been reading letters and diaries to gain a better understanding of a life cut short.
“It’s just, it’s a bit of a horror film that we have to do this,” she said. “The fact that I had a sister that I never knew who was murdered, I just can’t wrap my head around that. It’s had a massive impact on me.”
Kate, who played the part of her sister in a police reconstruction a year after her disappearance, says the family believes someone has information that could lead to her killer’s arrest.
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“It’s usually been my mum who does this but the emotional toll it’s taken on my parents means that they just can’t do this anymore.
“It’s incredibly emotional, it opens everything up, and it reflects back over 30 years ago and everything that we lived through then. And just the horror of a loved family member, a child being murdered, is a really bizarre situation. You live your normal life around that and then we’re opening up again to bring murder and death back into our family.”
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In the years since Lindsay’s disappearance, police have spoken to more than 5,000 people and examined 1,200 vehicles. Two men were arrested and later released.
A new sighting of Lindsay after she left the convenience shop on the night she disappeared has been confirmed and police believe those in the community have vital information.
Detective Chief Inspector James Entwistle of West Yorkshire Police made a direct appeal to those who were involved in killing and disposing of her body.
“Has this been on your conscience for thirty years?” he said.
“It’s perfectly possible there’s more than one person involved, its perfectly possible there’s a vehicle involved. Maybe you didn’t murder Lindsay but you know exactly who did because you were there and that’s sat on your conscience for 30 years.
“Now is the time to come and talk to us, now is the time to draw a line under this and bring that closure for Lindsay’s family.”
New posters featuring Lindsay’s picture have gone up around Hebden Bridge as part of the appeal for information and an increased police presence will be in the town.
Juliet said: “It has been 30 years but Lindsey didn’t deserve this and we owe it to her as her family to keep doing this.”
Lucy Letby suggested she could give “tips” to a colleague on how to get away with murder, a public inquiry has heard.
The child serial killer exchanged WhatsApp messages in 2017 with union rep Hayley Griffiths about the US legal drama How To Get Away With Murder.
The discussion took place a year after the neonatal nurse was moved to clerical duties at the Countess of Chester Hospital following concerns she may have been deliberately harming babies.
In a message to Letby, Ms Griffiths wrote: “I’m currently watching a programme called how to get away with murder. I’m learning some good tips.”
Letby replied: “I could have given you some tips x”
Ms Griffiths said: “I need someone to practice on to see if I can get away with it.”
Letby wrote: “I can think of two people you could practice on and will help you cover it up x”
Ms Griffiths replied: “Deal. I will get thinking of a plan. Get the cruise booked as our getaway.”
The pair were working in the hospital’s risk and patient safety department a year before Letby was arrested on suspicion of multiple murders by Cheshire Police.
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How the police caught Lucy Letby
Ms Griffiths said she was aware of the concerns of foul play and the connection to Letby by September 2016.
Shahram Sharghy, representing some of the families of Letby’s victims, asked: “Given the severity of the allegations that were made, and would you agree they are possibly the most serious allegations that anybody could make against a healthcare professional, were you making light of those allegations when you were referring to potentially committing a crime?”
Ms Griffiths answered: “No.”
Mr Sharghy asked: “Can you even begin to imagine and put yourself in the position of the families of the babies who were harmed when they see those messages?”
Ms Griffiths said: “I know… I am so remorseful. As soon as I saw them myself I was upset and I can’t begin to imagine… I can only apologise and say I have learned. I can’t go back in time but I have reflected absolutely on it.”
Earlier, Ms Griffiths told counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale KC: “It was nothing more than a conversation. However, I truly and deeply regret having started that conservation… this is completely unprofessional, poor judgement on my behalf and completely insensitive. And for that, I can only apologise from the bottom of my heart.”
Letby, 34, from Hereford, is currently serving 15 whole-life orders.
She was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder six others between June 2015 and June 2016.
The Thirlwall Inquiry into the events surrounding her crimes is expected to sit until early 2015. The findings are expected by late autumn that year.
Three men have been arrested in connection with a deadly house explosion in Newcastle.
Seven-year-old Archie York and Jason Laws, who was in his 30s, were killed following the blast in Violet Close, in the Benwell and Elswick area of the city in October.
Police said at the time that six others were taken to hospital “with varying injuries” after the blast and subsequent fire.
Three men – two in their 30s and one in his 50s – have been arrested on suspicion of two counts of manslaughter, and the production of a Class B drug, namely cannabis, Northumbria Police said.
They all remain in police custody.
Detective Chief Inspector Katie Smith said: “This has been a truly tragic incident which resulted in the loss of two lives.
“As a result of our ongoing enquiries, three men have today been arrested in connection with the explosion.
“Our investigation will remain ongoing as we seek to provide answers to what has happened.
“We would continue to ask people to avoid speculation surrounding this incident both online and in the community.”
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From October: Deadly blast destroys Newcastle house
The blast tore through a row of six properties divided into two flats each.
Drone footage showed how six flats in the middle of the building appeared to have been completely destroyed by the explosion and fire, while piles of debris could be seen in the street outside.
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Superintendent Darren Adams, from Northumbria Police, said on the day of the fire: “As a result of the incident in the early hours of this morning, a seven-year-old boy has sadly passed away.
“Despite the efforts of the emergency services, he tragically died at the scene.