The 1.25 percentage point rise was introduced under former chancellor Rishi Sunak, but during the Tory leadership race Liz Truss pledged to change it. Mr Kwarteng made the announcement ahead of a “mini-budget” on Friday. Political hub: Health secretary urges ‘national effort’ as NHS plan unveiled He said: “Taxing our way to prosperity has never worked. “To raise living standards for everyone, we must be unapologetic about growing our economy. Tax cuts are vital to that.” The Treasury said most workers will receive a cut in their national insurance contribution directly through their employer’s payroll in their November paycheck, although some may be delayed until December or January. They estimate that almost 28 million people will keep an extra £330 of their money on average next year, while 920,000 businesses are set to save almost £10,000 on average next year thanks to the change In a tweet, Mr Kwarteng called it a “tax cut for workers”. The levy was expected to raise around £13 billion a year to fund social care and deal with the NHS backlog that has built up due to the Covid pandemic. But Ms Truss argued it was wrong for her party to break its 2019 manifesto pledge not to raise taxes and said the extra funds could be raised through general taxation. The chancellor confirmed today that funding for health and social care services will be kept at the same levels as if the tax were in place. MPs are expected to vote on scrapping the health and social care charge once they return from party conferences in October. Read more: Part-time workers to face benefit cuts if they don’t look for more work Liz Truss plan for tax cuts to boost economy ‘a gamble at best’ Truss is set to be unpopular at home and abroad and this may be the case Downing Street said the repeal bill was part of the government’s commitment to a “low tax, high growth” economy. “This fulfills a commitment the prime minister made in the (Tory leadership) campaign,” a No 10 spokeswoman said. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 9:31 Liz Truss has said she is prepared to be unpopular with her tax policy as she believes it will ultimately benefit the UK economy. The move comes ahead of Chancellor Kwarteng’s “fiscal event” on Friday, when he will present more details of the government’s plans to cut taxes, including scrapping a planned corporation tax hike. Ms Truss has admitted the cuts will disproportionately benefit the wealthy, but says she is willing to make “unpopular” choices to get the economy back on track. A survey found that a majority of voters reject the government’s policy of tax cuts. And on Wednesday, a leading economic think tank warned that cutting taxes to grow the economy was “a gamble at best”.
