A stern-looking Jeremy Hunt gave a speech in a rented office opposite the Treasury today saying he had come to puncture myths. Labour has said that if he abolishes National Insurance (as he hints) it would cost £48 billion. Asked about this, he said: ‘It is a lie – I don’t make any bones about it.’ Strong words. But how robust were his own facts? Let’s look at some of his claims.
Hunt claims UK has been a job-making factory
Let’s start with jobs. The president of the CBI described the UK as “a job-creating factory”. That’s because over the last 14 years we have painstakingly built one of the most flexible labour market in Europe.
On the contrary, UK job creation has been abysmal – the only country in Europe to have a lower proportion of people in work now than before the pandemic. Job creation has not just been bad in the UK, but worse than almost anywhere else in the developed world since lockdown.
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