Jill Rutter, Programme Director at IfG commented on the National Insurance u-turn

“Yesterday's u-turn underlines the need for a rethink of the way we make budgets in the UK. The Chancellor has fallen victim to the failure to prepare the ground for reform, too much secrecy and the cavalier treatment of tax policy in the last Conservative manifesto.

"Our Better Budgets report, produced with the Chartered Institute of Taxation and Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) sets out steps to improve tax policy-making, including:

• Publish clear guiding principles and priorities for tax policy.
• Ensure consultations happen before key decisions are made.
• Open up public debate on the tax system.

"The Chancellor should adopt these principles now if we are not to be stuck with an irreformable tax system."