Soaring energy prices could see manufacturing firms call for NI hike cancellation
Soaring energy prices could prompt companies within the manufacturing sector to urge for the cancellation of the national insurance (NI) hike which is due next month.
Businesses may also start to call on the government to haul in energy subsidies, as inflation and raw material costs continue to spiral – which could present a dilemma for government soon after COP26 promises, AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould explained.
“A sustained run of elevated oil and gas prices would therefore leave politicians with a potentially difficult choice between sticking to their green principles over the long-term on one hand and deploying patch fix policies to alleviate financial pain that would only encourage further consumption of hydrocarbons on the other,” he said.
MakeUK, a manufacturers organisation, said in a statement today that putting a tax on workers as the government scraps the furlough scheme is “ill-timed as well as illogical”.
The organisation added that the NI increase would fail to protect jobs and incentivise recruitment.
Director general of UK steel at MakeUK, Gareth Stace told City A.M.: “Government must come forward with a plan to address the sky-high costs of energy for steelmakers and other energy-intensive industries.
“Our steel sector is fundamental to our national security and our economy. Without our steel sector, we are not able to play the role we need to on the world stage.”