Govt votes down Lib Dem amendment to publish number affected by NI threshold freezes

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

The government has today voted down a Liberal Democrat amendment to the NICs Bill which would force the government to "come clean" on the number of people dragged into paying National Insurance due to the Conservative party’s hidden stealth taxes after it chose to freeze thresholds.

The government has not published the number of workers who will be dragged into paying National Insurance each year due to the frozen NI threshold, meaning the true extent of this Conservative government’s policy of stealth taxes is not known.

The Liberal Democrat amendment would have forced the government to do this but they rejected this greater degree of transparency, with Conservative MPs voting down the amendment.

Responding to the vote, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

"This Conservative government is playing a game of deceit with the public rather than choosing to come clean about just how many people are going to be paying higher taxes due to their economic vandalism.

"The public deserves to know the truth about just how devastating the Conservative Party has been for our economy. Instead of being honest with voters, this Conservative government is trying to cover up their incompetence and desperately cling on to power.

"This great country can no longer afford the Conservatives. They are out of touch, out of ideas and soon to be out of time."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The text of the Liberal Democrat amendment: