A 2p cut to National Insurance in today’s Budget will eventually lead to more tax rises, economists have warned.

Adam Corlett, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation think tank, said there were “huge questions” about the need for tax cuts this year, given the outlook for public spending and the need to reduce our national debt.

Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce that he has chosen to cut National Insurance, rather than a more expensive reduction in income tax, in a move which will save workers £900 a year when combined with the cut announced last autumn.

The cut is expected to be partly paid for — ironically — by a series of tax increases, potentially on business class airfares, vapes and an extension to the windfall tax on oil and gas producers.

Mr Corlett said: “While this is going to be a tax-cutting election year, it is sandwiched between significant past and future tax rises, with the budget likely to only add to the number of tax increases coming in after the election.”

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