Labour are going to crash the economy/jobs market.

The UK is extremely reliant on FDI to plug its enormous trade deficit and current account deficit. The economy is very vulnerable, exacerbated by Brexit.

High taxes alongside failing services and crimbling infrastructure, huge skills deficits that are increasing as skilled people are not paid market rates for working here and subjected to some of the highest tax rates in the whole world, plus self-erected trade barriers with lucrative external markets doesn't make the UK a very attractive investment prospect.

I remember clearly the apocalyptic levels of doom that were being predicted at the time and then…. nothing.

Do you mean like the Tories have done?

The economic conditions of the 1990s are not remotely comparable to today. If you think things are going to be like the '90s today you're going to be extremely disappointed.

I'm having flashbacks to the 90s when everyone said this would happen with the introduction of the minimum wage. It didn't.

What they are deliberately ignoring is that when a company hires somebody they consider the total cost. It makes no difference to them what is classified as employers'/ employees' NI. Effectively the tax is paid by the employee because it is deducted from the total the company is prepared to pay for their services. It is a stealth tax to hide the real rate of tax on earnings.

All that will happen is that salaries for existing employees will be depressed, and new hires will be fewer. And even Paul Johnson stated that it would be a straightforward breach of their manifesto pledge no to raise NI (there were no caveats about the pseudo employer/ employee split).

Strange way indeed to go about generating economic growth.

If they had any sense at all they would be removing the distortions in the tax system that are holding back productivity gains and economic growth, as economists have told them: abolish the cliff edges from withdrawing the personal allowance, child benefit etc. Make them universal again. And also massively cut the universal credit taper rate. These measures are easy to implement and would increase productivity at all earnings levels almost instantly.

We have lurched from one group of extremists with nonsensical, ideologically-driven policies to the same at the other extreme. Why can't we get any competent politicians who make evidence-based, rational decisions for the general good rather than trying to please extreme minorities?

Yanu. Workers should have rights and ti's is actually what a Labour government should be doing.

The potential increase in employers NI will have serious consequences. But they are hamstrung in what their manifesto stated pre election. Even this is crossing the line of their pre election promises.

An increase in employment costs will simply keep wages down and deter additional recruitment / stimulate job losses. It depends at what percentage they levy additional NI costs.

And when they do they'll blame it on '14 years of Tory rule' and the '£22 billion black hole that was left in public finances'.