Three big problems with the government’s planned tax hike

We are in the middle of a once-in-a-generation shift: working from home. There are skill shortages across the economy, supply bottlenecks, and empty supermarket shelves. A couple of million people are still set to come off furlough, back into jobs that may no longer exist. The labour market is in utter chaos. But, hey, here’s a good idea. Let’s whack a tax on jobs. Really? The government’s widely leaked plan to increase National Insurance, a tax on jobs, could not come at a worse possible time. 

We can all debate whether the government should raise taxes to fund social care. It is a thorny issue that governments have been grappling with for years. Most Prime Ministers and Chancellors have commissioned reports, launched consultations, and formed working parties, before kicking the whole thing down the road for someone else to deal with.