What do voters have to thank the Tories for?

Last November Jeremy Hunt announced what he proclaimed was ‘the biggest tax cut on work since the 1980s’. He cut employee National Insurance from 12 per cent to 10 per cent, yet to his great disappointment, the polls didn’t budge.

This week he decided to double down, lowering NI again, to 8 per cent. ‘The UK now has the lowest effective personal tax rate since 1975,’ he said. It’s likely the public will still be unimpressed, because taxes are rising further. Hunt’s policies will in fact leave the UK with the highest overall tax burden since 1948.

The headline rate may be falling, but the proportion of income subject to taxes has gone up, primarily because tax thresholds have been frozen. Four million additional low-paid workers will be liable for income tax, and another three million will be caught by the 40p rate. Many will find themselves paying the 45p rate.

The Chancellor is billing this as a £900 giveaway for the average worker, combining last year’s 2p cut with this year’s additional 2p cut.