National insurance contributions, paid by employers and employees in the UK, are scheduled to increase by 1.25 percentage points at the start of the new tax year in April. The tax increase is a manifesto-breaking move by the Conservative party, aimed at raising £12 billion to support NHS funding amid the pandemic. 

However, former minister David Davis, amongst others, has urged the government to abandon its plans because of the financial pressure households are already facing amid inflationary cost increases and the imminent increase in the energy price cap. 

Speaking on Monday on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Davis said, “It was a judgment made on, frankly, quite a lot of wrong data.” 

“They didn’t know at the time that by April we would have the highest inflation rate in 30 years, they didn’t know that interest rates would be going up, council tax would be going up, the fuel price is about to jump by £700 a year for the average family. Therefore they didn’t know quite what pressure there would be on ordinary people.”