Wes Streeting Urges 15% Employer NI Cut and New North Sea Licences
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 31
Wes Streeting Urges 15% Employer NI Cut and New North Sea Licences
4 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 31
Wes Streeting proposed a targeted cut to employers' National Insurance to spur hiring of young people, breaking with Labour after the tax was raised to 15% from 13.8%.
The intervention follows Alan Milburn's review of rising NEET levels, which heard employers say higher NI and minimum wages discouraged youth hiring, though Milburn said the effect was not straightforward.
Streeting also backed approving North Sea drilling projects including Jackdaw and Rosebank, arguing new licences would lift tax receipts even if they did not lower household energy bills.
His comments sharpen his split with Keir Starmer's government, which says under-21s are already largely exempt from employer NI and is offering £3,000 youth job grants while prioritising a shift to renewables.
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With youth mental health issues soaring, can tax cuts alone solve the UK's massive young unemployment crisis?