As the Labour government implodes around them, Reform MPs are desperate to keep up the momentum. Right after Sir Keir Starmer came forward with his pledge to ban social media for under-16s, Robert Jenrick unveiled a policy proposal of his own: to reverse Rachel Reeves’ increase in employer national insurance. At a Westminster press conference, Jenrick vowed to slash the tax from 15 per cent to 13.8 per cent. But there is a catch: the cut will apply only to British workers.
The reduction in employers’ national insurance will be funded by a new comprehensive ‘Employers’ Migrant Labour Levy’ that firms will have to cough up for each foreign worker they employ. The levy will hit businesses taking on lower-skilled and low-earning migrants ‘harder’ than those hiring their more highly skilled counterparts.
Jenrick declared: ‘The experiment of letting in millions of low-wage migrants — as millions of Brits languish on benefits — has failed catastrophically. Reform will end it.’
Reform promised to dedicate every last penny of the levy to getting Brits off benefits and into work. Jenrick added:
It is high time the British Government put British workers first. And migrant labour second. Under Reform, because of this Levy, businesses will have to take responsibility for the costs and benefits their hiring decisions have on everyone else.
Three cheers for putting British workers first – and for making employers pay for the privilege of discovering whether Reform’s sums add up.
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