James Murray

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that businesses want to make sure that the population—their employees or future employees—are healthy, are able to get to work and are able to access the support they need to get a job. That is as important for businesses as it is for the people themselves, and of course businesses want to see the investment in infrastructure that our adherence to our fiscal rules enables. That investment in rail, road and energy is so important to businesses, as it is to families across the country. In their motion, the Conservatives propose halving employer national insurance contributions for under-25s. Apart from a brief mention in the shadow Secretary of State’s speech, they appear to have forgotten that employers already pay no employer national insurance on any earnings up to £50,270 for every employee under 21, and for all apprentices under 25. However, the bigger problem—one that goes to the very heart of why the Conservatives failed in government and why it is clear that they have learned nothing—is that they are very good at announcing tax cuts, yet always entirely fail to credibly say how they would pay for them. If they want a reduction in employer national insurance, what is the cost? Where does the money come from? Is it from higher borrowing, higher taxes on someone else or cuts to the NHS and other public services that working people rely on? Just look at the Conservatives’ announcements on tax more widely. They have promised billions of pounds-worth of unfunded and poorly targeted tax cuts for the very wealthiest—exactly the same irresponsibility that led to the disastrous Liz Truss mini-Budget that crashed the economy and sent mortgages skyrocketing. That is the difference between us as a responsible Government and them as a discredited Opposition.