Tories pledge to halve NI tax rise

After several weeks in which the Tory poll lead has narrowed, George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, will announce that the party will cut the cost for employees and employers, who each face a 1% increase in contributions from April 2011, according to The Times. It is understood that the Tories would reduce the planned rise by about half, although only low and middle-income earners would benefit. The announcement comes on the day that Mr Osborne confronts Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, and Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, in the first big television debate of t...