It’s not really for me to say whether Rachel Reeves is much cop at maths, though certainly from recent reports detailing her CV, I understand she knows a thing or two about inflation. But what’s she like with forecasting? Consequences? April, when her budget changes are effected, will tell. April, with its reduction in business rates relief and its increase in employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs), from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent. Either Rachel Reeves hasn’t realised she is about to wreak havoc on an industry, or she has — but perhaps doesn’t think it matters.
The rise in NICs, of 1.2 per cent, looks slight on paper. But, as I wrote with Jonathan Prynn this week, the earnings threshold at which businesses start to be charged falls from £9,100 to £5,000 a year, and so countless part-time workers will now need NICs paid for them for the first time.
