Hunt says plan to scrap employee national insurance is ‘long-term ambition’

Chancellor’s unfunded proposal would be ‘work of many parliaments’ and depended on growth of economy

Jeremy Hunt has admitted his unfunded proposal to scrap employee national insurance could take more than a decade, after conceding it would require a sharp increase in economic growth to avoid making cuts to public services.

With the government under growing pressure to explain how the plan could be afforded, the chancellor told MPs on the Commons Treasury committee: “It won’t happen in one parliament, but it’s a long-term ambition.”