Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives said they would cut the main employer national-insurance rate on 21- to 24-year-olds to 7.5 percent, a plan they costed at 2.3 billion pounds a year.
Britain's opposition Conservatives said on Tuesday they would halve the main rate of employer national insurance paid on workers aged 21 to 24, setting the rate at 7.5 percent.
Bloomberg reported that the party put the annual cost at 2.3 billion pounds, about 3.1 billion dollars, and said the change would save companies an average of 1,545 pounds for each young person employed. The Financial Times also reported the pledge. The party said it would set out how the plan would be paid for on Wednesday.
The proposal is aimed at youth joblessness and at rebuilding the Conservatives' claim to economic competence after their election defeat. It is an opposition policy, not a government measure, and would require a change of government or a later Budget decision to take effect.
Chancellor John Healey, meeting bank chiefs the same day, described a difficult fiscal picture and said no tax decisions had yet been taken, according to the Financial Times. The Conservative plan was not presented as a response to that meeting.
The next published step is Wednesday's Conservative account of how the 2.3 billion pound cost would be funded.
People Sentiments Neutral
- The Conservative Party said the cut would save employers an average of 1,545 pounds for each worker aged 21 to 24.