The government’s legislative programme is pretty light at present. But the Bill that is going to spark the most interest this week is destined to go nowhere at all. It’s a Ten Minute Rule Bill, introduced by Tory MP Ben Gummer this Tuesday, and calls for National Insurance to be renamed the ‘Earnings Tax’.
What’s in a name? Well, there are two good reasons why this Bill which won’t go anywhere (Ten Minute Rule motions are simply used as a way of making a point and drawing attention to an issue) has, as I understand it, already gained a great deal of attention and sympathy at the highest levels of government.
The first is the reason that Gummer cites for introducing the motion in the first place: transparency. Few people understand what National Insurance really is – the TaxPayers’ Alliance demanded in 2012 that it be renamed so it was clearer that ‘its true function is overwhelmingly a tax, not an insurance scheme’.
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