LABOUR ARE BREAKING A MANIFESTO PLEDGE ON NATIONAL INSURANCE, SAYS REES-MOGG

Former Business Secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has said Labour are not telling the truth when they claimed they would not raise rates of employers’ national insurance in their manifesto.

Speaking on GB News Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said:

“A congregation of the world’s most sought after enterprises took place in London today as the Prime Minister spoke to over £40 billion worth of potential investment, promising to make Britain the place in which to invest and do business.

“Remarkably, for regulatory socialists, the Reverend Starmer sounded almost Farage-like as he talked about the virtues of a bonfire bureaucracy in the hope of removing obstacles to growth.

“However, it does not seem all those attending were as convinced by the PMs flirtation with the free market. The chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt, did not hold back when holding an in conversation event with the Prime Minister.

“Well, not a great start to an Investment Summit when a potential investor doesn’t even believe you care about growth.

“The Labour government claims it’s all about growth and investment, their actions tell a very different story.

“They’re talking about investment yet at the same time, they’re itching to slap more regulations and costs on employers, making it hard to run businesses efficiently and making people less likely to take people on to create jobs.

“Last week saw proposals to make it harder to employ people, and this week, the talk is of making it more expensive by extending employers’ National Insurance contributions.

“And then there’s this obsession with the EU. They want a so call ‘reset with Brussels, with David Lammy meeting EU officials earlier today.

“It’s clear they’re more interested in placating European bureaucrats than standing up for British interests. The reset is essentially trying to reverse the Brexit gains and crucially, fall back into the high cost, low growth EU’s regulatory clutches.

“As for National Insurance contributions, Rachel Reeves talks with a forked tongue. The manifesto clearly said, ‘We will not raise the rates of national insurance.’

“Even Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and by no means a Tory, said to increase them would be a straightforward breach of Labour’s promise.

“It also has important economic consequences, but increases the cost of employment without boosting productivity. This leads to less job creation and slower growth.

“To leak these proposals during an Investment Summit, just shows how incontinent this government’s efforts at communications are.

“Let’s look at what Reeves said to GB News’s Christopher Hope:
“Well, you’ve read our manifesto, and in black and white, it said we will not increase taxes on working people. That was National Insurance, income tax and VAT, not employers. That was not in the manifesto.”

“That’s absolutely not true, is it. It said ‘we will not raise the rates of national insurance.’
“So I think Ms Reeves should go back to school and learn to read once again, because Labour isn’t interested in real growth, or indeed in telling the truth.

“It’s more focused on expanding government controls, re-engaging the EU and making it harder for businesses to thrive. And it’s the rest of us who will suffer.”