Massive tax cut for self-employed in Tory election giveaway
At the launch of the Conservative Party's manifesto in Silverstone Mr Sunak also pledged to cut employee National Insurance by a further 2p
Rishi Sunak quizzed on Rwanda manifesto commitments
Almost all self-employed people will no longer pay National Insurance contributions under major new Tory tax plans unveiled by Rishi Sunak.
He said more than nine in 10 self-employed workers - some four million people - would be exempted from the tax.
The move will double down on his key message of being on the side of working people - insisting it's not right to tax workers twice.
At the launch of the Conservative Party’s manifesto in Silverstone Mr Sunak also pledged to cut employee National Insurance by a further 2p, taking it down to 6 per cent by April 2027.
And he repeated his hint that he would be willing to take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights if it blocked his Rwanda flights.
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The Tory leader also promised to deliver 1.6 million new homes over the next five years, abolish stamp duty for first time buyers on homes with a value of up to £425,000 and to introduce a new Help to Buy scheme.
Previously announced eye-catching pledges included in the manifesto include a new legal cap on immigration, with MPs voting each year on the total number of visas which should be issued.
A guarantee that defence spending will rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030 has created a dividing line with Labour as has Tory plans for a Triple Lock Plus to raise personal allowance for pensioners to ensure the basic state pension is never hit by income tax.
The manifesto also includes pledges to recruit thousands more doctors and nurses and to beef up neighbourhood policing with an 8,000 officers.
Key manifesto pledges
TAX
2p cut in National Insurance Contributions (NICs), along with ambition to eventually abolish the “second tax on jobs”. NICs to be abolished for the self-employed.
Triple tax lock ensuring no rise in headline rates of income tax, National Insurance or VAT.
Family Home Tax Guarantee, pledging no increase in stamp duty or capital gains tax on the family home and no new council tax bands or revaluations.
Threshold for first-time buyers paying stamp duty raised to £425,000.
IMMIGRATION
Introduce a new legal cap on immigration, with MPs voting each year on the total number of visas which should be issued.
Press ahead with the plan to send Channel migrants to Rwanda next month with regular flights every month.
A vow to halve immigration over an undisclosed timeframe and then keep cutting it year-on-year.
No firm commitment to pull out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.
Pledge to work with other countries to rewrite asylum treaties to make them “fit for the challenges we face”.
HEALTH
Pledge to recruit thousands more doctors and nurses.
Raise legal smoking age every year to prevent anyone aged under 16 ever being able to legally take up the habit.
Increasing the role of pharmacists to free up millions of GP appointments.
Building 50 new diagnostic centres and 100 new GP surgeries.
A £86,000 cap on social care costs.
DEFENCE
Guarantee that defence spending will rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030.
Return the civil service to its pre-pandemic size to 'pay for our commitment to increase defence spending'.
Introduce National Service for all 18-year-olds that will see them either do a year in the military or weekend unpaid work.
PENSIONS
Triple Lock Plus to raise personal allowance for pensioners to ensure the basic state pension is never hit by income tax.
POLICE AND CRIME
Recruit an extra 8,000 police officers to beef up neighbourhood policing.
Increase the minimum tariff for murders in the home from 15 years to 25.
Step up stop and search powers to tackle knife crime.
TRANSPORT
A fund of £8.3 billion to fill potholes and resurface roads.
HOUSING
Abolish stamp duty permanently for homes up to £425,000 for first-time buyers.
Introduce a “new and improved” Help to Buy scheme.
EDUCATION AND CHILDREN
Ban the teaching of "contested" gender ideology in schools. Double the income threshold at which families start to lose child benefit from £60,000 to £120,000.
Scrap “Mickey Mouse” degrees to release funding for extra 100,000 apprenticeships.
