National Insurance Contributions (Increase of Thresholds) Bill

Andrew Jones Excerpts

2nd reading
Thursday 24th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr Simon Clarke)]

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

Yesterday, the Chancellor announced in his spring statement a series of extraordinary measures that will harness the tax system’s power to build a stronger and more secure economy for the United Kingdom. At an incredibly difficult time, when the whole world is reeling from the twin blows of a terrible coronavirus pandemic and Putin’s appalling attack on Ukraine, our three-part plan will help hard-working people with the cost of living by putting billions of pounds back in their pockets, most immediately through the changes to the national insurance contributions system that we will debate today, the detail of which I will set out shortly.

Our plan will create the higher growth that will drive the economy in the coming decades by creating a new culture of enterprise, including tax-cutting options on business investment and innovation. It will also allow workers to keep more of the proceeds of their hard work, by cutting the basic rate of income tax from 20p in the pound to 19p before the end of this Parliament—the first such cut in 16 years. In short, our tax plan is sensible, affordable and well targeted. People and businesses will benefit, the economy will be strengthened and, in turn, our country’s place as a safe haven for freedom, democracy, peace and prosperity will be cemented.

While our tax plan will unleash real and immediate benefits, in drawing it up we have recognised that it must be underpinned by fiscal responsibility. This Government are determined to protect our nation’s finances, so we have ensured that we have maintained space against our fiscal rules, we have continued to be disciplined and we have carefully considered the macroeconomic outlook. Let me remind the House that in the next financial year we will spend £83 billion on debt interest, the highest amount on record and almost four times what we spent last year.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend makes an important point. One of the most telling stats revealed yesterday was that £83 billion figure. Can he perhaps help by putting it into context and comparing it with other budgets the Government must meet, such as the schools budget or the Defence budget? We have had two supposedly once-in-a-century events just 12 years apart—the ’08 financial crash with all its deferred implications and the coronavirus pandemic with its implications—and now we have a war in Europe. Does he agree that we are dealing with the most adverse set of circumstances any Chancellor has faced for a considerable period?

[Mr Clarke]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The sum of £83 billion dwarfs most Departments: it is the equivalent of adding Education, Transport and Justice together. We need to take this incredibly seriously. It is the context in which all our decisions in this statement had to be considered, and in which our actions in future years will be possible. We should be clear: it is the most vulnerable and the poorest who lose out the most if the Government lose control of the public finances. That is the central message that the Chancellor would want to emphasise.