National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill

Debate between Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Committee stage
Tuesday 21st January 2025 Grand Committee

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, briefly, I agree with much of what the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, said. But again, to dwell on the coalition, she and I served in the same Government, so agreeing with her is not unusual for me.

I wanted to make a brief point. Both previous speakers highlighted the impact on the hospitality industry. The figures are quite startling. There will be an impact of about £1 billion on the industry itself, thereby impacting 750,000 workers. As we have just heard from the noble Lord, Lord Londesborough, the impacts of this are already being felt by an industry which is already challenged. We should look at this again. Perhaps in a later group when we talk about the importance of impact assessments it will again be underlined that we do not just need reviews. Doing the work beforehand, consulting and working with the industry is an essential prerequisite to ensure that these changes are not detrimental and lead to a depression of growth, which I know ultimately was not the intention of the Government, as they stated.

[Lord Macpherson of Earl’s Court (CB)]

My Lords, usually I have a lot of sympathy and respect for the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, and my noble friend Lord Londesborough. However, on this occasion I am going to disagree, first, because if you cut tax in one area, you are only going to have to raise it somewhere else. It might benefit the hospitality industry, but some other industry is going to suffer as a consequence.