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Boris Johnson lets slip manifesto pledge to cut national insurance Boris Johnson lets slip manifesto pledge to cut national insurance
(about 3 hours later)
PM’s apparent blunder over £12,000 threshold could benefit him amid ‘factchecking’ row PM’s apparent blunder over £12,500 threshold could benefit him amid ‘factchecking’ row
Boris Johnson has said he wants to raise the national insurance threshold to £12,000, letting slip a major Tory tax cut from the manifesto as he was speaking to workers in Teesside. Boris Johnson has said he wants to raise the national insurance threshold to £12,500, letting slip a major Tory tax cut from the manifesto as he was speaking to workers in Teesside.
The prime minister said he wanted to cut tax for working people as he was pressed by an employee at a fabrication yard about whether he would help “people like us”, not just the rich. The prime minister blurted out the key announcement as he was pressed by an employee at a fabrication yard about whether he would help “people like us”, not just the rich.
The policy would ultimately be a tax cut of more than £400 for everyone earning more than the current threshold of £8,632. However, it quickly emerged that the Tories would only pledge to raise the threshold to £9,500 next year, then lift it gradually over many years until it reached the target £12,500.
However, it quickly emerged that the Tories would only pledge to raise the threshold to £9,500 next year then lift it gradually over many years until it reached the target £12,000 threshold. The policy would initially be a tax cut of about £85 a year and aim towards a reduction of around £460 for everyone earning more than the current threshold of £8,632.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has calculated that it would cost billions if applied to workers across the board. Johnson himself was vague on the details, originally claiming the target would be £12,000, not £12,500, then stumbling over the timescale for the promise. He told one broadcaster it would be over the course of a parliament but it was later clarified to be a long-term ambition with no deadline. He also appeared to suggest wrongly that the initial £9,500 level would lead to tax bills lower by £500 a year, instead of £85 per year.
Johnson was caught off-guard by the question from 35-year-old Claire Cartlidge, a fuel quality manager at the yard, who asked whether he was promising low taxes for all or just people like himself. “The £9,500 … it’ll be soon in the next parliament if we’re lucky enough to be re-elected. This will put around £500 in people’s pockets,” he said, incorrectly.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has calculated that the initial increase alone would cost £2bn. Xiaowei Xu, a research economist at the IFS, said reducing the NI threshold was the “best targeted way of helping low earners if restricting oneself to the direct tax system”, but added: “If the intention is to help the lowest-paid, raising the NICs threshold is an extremely blunt instrument. Less than 10% of the total gains from raising NICs thresholds accrue to the poorest fifth of working households.”
Johnson was caught off-guard by the question from Claire Cartlidge, a fuel quality manager at the yard, who asked whether he was promising low taxes for all or just for people like himself.
“I mean low tax for working people,” he said. “If you look at what we are doing and what I said in the last few days, we are going to be cutting national insurance up to £12,000. And we are going to make sure we cut business rates for small businesses, we are cutting tax for working people, by the way.”“I mean low tax for working people,” he said. “If you look at what we are doing and what I said in the last few days, we are going to be cutting national insurance up to £12,000. And we are going to make sure we cut business rates for small businesses, we are cutting tax for working people, by the way.”
Tory advisers appeared to be surprised by Johnson blurting out the announcement, which is likely to be a flagship element of the manifesto. They then delayed him giving a national broadcast interview while they took stock of what he should say next. Tory advisers were taken by surprise by Johnson letting slip the announcement, which was due to be a flagship element of the manifesto briefed to Sunday newspapers.
However, it is unlikely to be unhelpful to the prime minister on a day when his campaign has been overshadowed by a row about the Conservative party Twitter account masquerading as a factchecking service. Twitter has criticised the party’s move as misleading and warned it not to do it again. The manifesto is due to be published on Sunday, which Tory sources said was aimed for maximum impact on the weekend evening news bulletin and to “attract the Countryfile audience” – referring to those who might switch to the news after watching a popular Sunday night programme.
Johnson revealed the policy in the middle of a short question-and-answer session with energy firm staff, who pressed him on the social care funding crisis and whether Jeremy Corbyn was right to say he would sell off the NHS in a trade deal with the US. However, the mistaken announcement will not be unhelpful to the prime minister on a day when his campaign has been overshadowed by a row about the Conservative party Twitter account masquerading as a factchecking service. Twitter has criticised the party’s move as misleading and warned it not to do it again.
One worker also asked him why he would not reveal the contents of the intelligence and security committee report on Russian interference in the EU referendum. Johnson said he had “seen no evidence of interference” by Moscow in Brexit and insisted he was sticking to the original timetable for the release of the report, despite calls from Dominic Grieve, the committee chair, for it to have been published before the election. Other staff at the energy firm pressed the prime minister on the social care funding crisis and whether Jeremy Corbyn was right to say he would sell off the NHS in a trade deal with the US.
One worker also asked him why he would not reveal the contents of the intelligence and security committee report on Russian interference in the EU referendum. Johnson said he had “seen no evidence of interference” by Moscow in Brexit and insisted he was sticking to the original timetable for the release of the report, despite calls from Dominic Grieve, the committee chair, for it to be published before the election.
The prime minister was later grilled by journalists on his manifesto but he declined to give any more details, saying that was enough tax policy for one day.
Asked whether he would release his own tax return, he said he “always” released his tax return, even though he has not done so since he was London mayor in 2016.
However, he did answer a question about the HS2 high-speed rail line from London to the north of England by hinting that he would proceed with it, despite having ordered a review of its affordability.
“You know where my instincts are. I’ve overseen a great number of very big infrastructure projects,” he said. “I’m going to hesitate before simply scrapping something that has been long-planned and is of great national importance.
“But we will want to be checking the money is being properly spent and there aren’t ways in which it could be reprioritised or reprofiled.”