Two-Tier justice saw heavy sentences for tweets, whilst antisemitic marches were tolerated.
Two-Tier law enforcement saw silent Christian prayer punished, whilst abusers from rape gangs were treated with kid gloves.
Now Two-Tier Keir has got a new one to add to the list: Two-Tier Tax.
Last month, businesses across the UK were hit by the national rise Rachel Reeves announced in her October Budget:
· An increase in the rate of employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from 13.8% to 15%.
· A cut in the secondary threshold—the point at which employers become liable to pay NICs on employees’ earnings—from £9,100 a year to £5,000 a year, bringing many part-time employees into the scope of their employers having to pay tax on their employment.
What has been dubbed the “Jobs Tax” was a whopping £25bn hit for the economy overall. Sectors like hospitality and retail, which employ many part-time or seasonal staff, have been badly hit, with many employers reducing staff, freezing investment, or increasing prices—making our companies less competitive when bidding for work.
Two-tier justice was just the start - now a new divide emerges - Kevin Foster
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For many retail and hospitality businesses, this tax raid has been the final straw—pushed over the edge by this tax raid. When combined with increased Business Rates bills for pubs, shops, hotels, and restaurants, it’s hastening the decline in our high streets.
Groups like UK Hospitality have been hoping ministers would listen to the desperate pleas to relook at this tax raid before it’s too late for many businesses.
Whilst the pleas of British businesses have been ignored by the Chancellor and Prime Minister, it appears there is one set of businesses Labour has recognised the impact of the Jobs Tax on—how it will deter them from investing and how it could make their pricing uncompetitive: Indian businesses.
The UK Government has agreed a trade deal with India. It includes reducing UK tariffs on Indian exports like clothing and footwear—even frozen prawns! In return, India will cut tariffs on UK exports like higher-value cars and whisky.
All standard trade deal territory, with each side looking to benefit their own exporters whilst avoiding opening up more sensitive parts of their domestic economy they wish to protect. It’s the three-year exemption from National Insurance Contributions for Indian workers being seconded into the UK by Indian companies which has rightly provoked outrage.
OPINION: A fresh blow to British businesses reveals how the rules don't apply equally - again, says Kevin Foster.
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The UK Government argues this is acceptable due to a reciprocal provision for UK companies seconding workers to India. Yet even a basic review of India’s labour market shows why this will be a one-way arrangement—of workers travelling from India to the UK.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the average weekly wage in the UK in February 2025 was £716. Meanwhile, in India, the average monthly wage for those working for a large company is just £140. With figures like this, it’s easy to see which way the employee secondments will be flowing!
This tax deal gives Indian companies an additional cost advantage in bidding for UK-based work, in a way UK companies do not realistically get in the Indian market, due to the lower wage rates overall making it unattractive for UK staff to relocate there. The discount on employers’ NICs on UK wage rates is clearly worth more than it is to have the same in India.
A request for this arrangement from India in previous negotiations was rejected by then-Conservative governments. Now Two-Tier Keir has given in, creating a Two-Tier Tax system which gives an advantage to Indian companies bringing cheaper labour to the UK.
