Tory MPs’ fury at broken pledge not to raise NI
TORY MPs last night turned on Philip Hammond as he broke the party’s manifesto commitment not to put up National Insurance.
The Conservatives pledged four times in their 2015 general election manifesto not to raise the contributions,, warning that a rise would d ‘ harm our economy’ andd ‘reduce living standards’.
David Cameron unveiled thee policy as part of a ‘tax lock’ thatt aides have since admitted was s ‘cooked up on the hoof’ in the e final weeks of the campaign.
Now 2.5million self-employed d will lose an average £240 a year r as their National Insurance e rises from 9 to 10 per cent.
A week before the 2015 elec- tion, Mr Cameron announced the five-year lock would be enshrined in law. Working people had ‘paid enough tax’ and should ‘be able to keep more of the money to spend as you choose,’ he added.
Mr Cameron said the alternative was a Labour government that would inevitably raise taxes. ‘Here’s the choice – you get me, you get that guarantee about taxes,’ he said.
‘You get Ed Miliband and you’ve got someone who attacked every single spending reduction and saving we had to make. Every single change to welfare he has opposed.
‘You can only draw one conclusion … He would put up taxes, reach into your pay packet and cut your pay … I say working people in this country have paid enough tax.’
In a tweet, Mr Cameron pledged: ‘Between May 2015 to May 2020, there will be no increases in National Insurance.’ The word ‘no’ was under- lined for emphasis. In another message on Twitter, he wrote: ‘I’ve ruled out raising VAT. Why won’t Ed Miliband rule our raising National Insurance contributions?’
The Conservative campaign headquarters also posted on the social media site, writing: ‘The reality is Labour need to raise National Insurance to make their sums add up – and hard-working people will pay.’
One of Mr Cameron’s Down- ingi Street advisers last year admitted the tax lock had been ‘cooked up on the hoof’.
Ameet Gill, who was the f former prime minister’s head of s strategic communications, told BBC Radio 4 in October: ‘When I was in government, we made s some announcements on the h hoof just to fill that vacuum.
‘Towards the end of the gene eral election campaign in 2015, we did the five-year tax lock. It’s when we committed to put in legislation that we would not increase taxes.
‘It was probably the dumbest economic policy that anyone could make, but we kind of cooked it up on the hoof a couple of days before, because we had a hole in the grid and we needed to fill it.’
The party’s manifesto made f four promises on National Insurance. Under pledges for a ‘strong economy’, it read: ‘We will commit to no increases in VAT, National Insurance contributions or Income Tax.’
It later repeated this promise, saying: ‘We will not raise VAT, National Insurance contributions or income tax … so you can keep more of your income and pass it on to future generations.’
It also included the National Insurance pledge in ‘our plan of action’, and then mentioned it for a fourth time, adding: ‘Tax rises on working people would harm our economy, reduce living standards and cost jobs.’