Employer National Insurance Contributions

Chris Curtis Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Paul Holmes]

I am not giving way. [Interruption.] Well, I do not have time.

Let us look at the hospice sector. Many Labour Members probably hoped that the parachute leads had been cut, but I raised £10,000 by jumping out of an aeroplane for the Mountbatten hospice in my constituency. Some 70% of its income is from charitable donations, and 24% of its income is delivered by the national health service. At no time when this Minister or any other Minister has stood up in this House have they apologised to the hospice sector for the cuts in services that will have to be delivered because of this measure. Mountbatten will have to find an extra £1 million in income just because of this measure, and that means more hospital beds being used by people who are unable to access hospice services. Ultimately, the NHS will be in further crisis because of the short-term measure this Government are taking through.

[Chris Curtis (Milton Keynes North) (Lab)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Paul Holmes]

I like the hon. Gentleman, so I will give way.

[Chris Curtis]

I thank the hon. Gentleman. I was looking at some research the other day that shows that parachute jumps end up costing the NHS more money because of the risk of injury than they raise for the charities concerned. Does he agree that, rather than parachute jumps, what our NHS needs is the £22.6 billion investment that has been raised by the Budget?

[Paul Holmes]

The last Government gave the highest amount of investment into the national health service ever. I happened to jump out of a plane because I was very keen to do so, as I am a bit of a thrill seeker but also because I wanted to raise money for a good charity. If the hon. Gentleman votes for the Government measure or against the motion this evening, he will be ensuring that hospices across this country are unable to deliver the services they want to deliver and, as homelessness charities have said, that £50 million to £60 million will be taken out of frontline services. That will be the impact of this measure. Charities across this country are going to suffer under this Government’s proposal, as will hospitals and wealth creators, and I say to every Member who votes against this motion to protect frontline services that their constituents will be watching.

We should not be surprised that, five months after taking office, the Labour party has reverted to type: tax the most vulnerable, tax small businesses and borrow on the public purse; with poorer public services out there and lower growth going forward. I cannot wait for its defeat at the next election and us fixing the problems.