Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 7 April 2010.

Employment Relations

Question: My Lords, will the Minister explain how it helps employment relations to reduce the size of people’s pay packets by increasing national insurance charges, as the Government propose?

Answer: My Lords, what we as a Government have tried to do is to act responsibly by indicating that in dealing with the deficit, some difficult decisions will have to be taken. Our record on unemployment is that we have created maximum employment over many years—it reached its height at something like 29 million, which is as near to full employment as one can get—and we do not believe that an increase in national insurance will have the effect that the noble Lord has predicted. Our main point is that we have been absolutely honest in saying that as we recover from the deficit, we will have to make difficult choices. I wish that the Opposition could arrive at the same conclusion.

Secondary information