Ashfield council leader joins calls for National Insurance rise to be scrapped

The National Insurance tax rise was voted through by Parliament in September last year.

Latest figures show that the rise could see Hucknall residents’ disposal incomes slashed by 10 per cent

Local MPs Lee Anderson (Ashfield) and Mark Spencer (Hucknall) voted for the rise which the Ashfield Independents say is set to hit hard-working local people on low incomes.

This comes at a time when latest statistics show more than one in four pupils – 27.1 per cent – in Ashfield are claiming free school meals, the highest number since records began.

Coun Zadrozny said: “Residents are living on the breadline, children are going hungry and families and pensioners can’t afford to heat their homes.

"This is reality of the cost of living crisis facing tens of thousands of residents in the Ashfield district.

"The punitive rise in National Insurance will directly lead to more poverty and that’s why my council will take a stand.

"We’ll take a stand against hunger and we’ll take a stand against for the thousands who face the stark choice of eating or heating.

“We’ll take a stand for growing majority of residents in places like Hucknall who are struggling and rely on food banks.

Coun Zadrozny has now written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak calling for him to reverse the rise in National Insurance contributions, called the health and social care levy, which is set to kick in this April.