Jenrick’s Plan To Scrap NI Hike For British Workers Slammed

Robert Jenrick has been accused of “playing divisive identity politics” after announcing a Reform UK government would make it more expensive for bosses to employ foreign workers.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased employers’ National Insurance Contributions from 13.8% to 15% in her first Budget back in 2024.

Critics have labelled the policy a “jobs tax” which makes it more expensive for employers to hire staff.

Jenrick, Reform’s Treasury spokesperson, announced on Monday that his party would reverse the NICs rise, but only for “British workers”.

He said the policy would be paid for by introducing a “Migrant Labour Levy”, which businesses would have to pay for every foreign worker they employ.

Jenrick said: “For more than 20 years now, we’ve had British workers coming second – undercut by cheap migrant labour, which drives down wages and our people’s quality of life.

“The experiment of letting in millions of low-wage migrants – as millions of Brits languish on benefits – has failed catastrophically. Reform will end it.”

He added: “If the migrant is hired, the taxman collects £7,000 in taxes, but ends up paying the British candidate not hired around £8,000 on universal credit.

“If the British worker was hired instead, the £7k in tax would still be paid. But the £8k in benefits would be saved.”

He claimed there are around 3.6 million non-EU workers in Britain – and the the levy would raise £10 billion from the non-EU migrants on PAYE alone.

Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper told HuffPost UK: “Instead of playing divisive identity politics and creating a bureaucratic anti-business nightmare, we should be focused on helping all our struggling local businesses to thrive.

“The Liberal Democrats have been clear from the start, the hike in employer National Insurance is a self-defeating jobs tax that hits high street shops, local pharmacies, GPs, and care homes hard. It needs to be scrapped for everyone.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage’s latest half-baked plan would leave British businesses and British people worse off.

“Their proposals threaten to hike bills and leave working families paying the price.

“Reform is not on the side of working people and are simply making it up as they go along.

“Only Labour is making the fair choices to change our country, ease the cost of living, and improve our public services.

“We’ve already slashed migration by 69% since last year, our Immigration Skills Charge is funding more training for British workers, and we’re reforming the system to get people back into the work and out of the doom loop of joblessness which spiralled out of control under the Tories.”

“Another day, another uncosted policy to distract from Robert Kenyon’s sexist comments,” Labour MP Luke Charters also told HuffPost UK.

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