Latest editorial
Starmer appears to ponder rise to bosses' NI
British one pound coins
“At local level, it’s different."
LABOUR appears to be considering raises to employers’ National Insurance and a loosening of Treasury fiscal rules in the forthcoming Budget.
Premier Sir Keir Starmer conspicuously declined to rule out either move at Prime Minister’s Questions when pressed by the Tories on his plans.
Lame-duck Tory leader Rishi Sunak pressed him on both National Insurance and methods of calculating debt, but Sir Keir dodged commitments as he struggles to square his pledges of no return to austerity, fiscal probity and the “black hole” in the public finances he claims to have inherited.
More from this author
ANDREW MURRAY casts an eye over past upheavals and asks whether the left can find a fire escape before the world goes up in flames
But Business Secretary downplays prospect of full nationalisation and declines to extend emergency assistance to Port Talbot or Grangemouth
Meanwhile, Labour government toughens rhetoric against the genocide, but stops short of making any changes in policy or practical support for Israel
