Hammond under pressure for U-turn on self-employed National Insurance hike

Philip Hammond is facing growing pressure to back down on a A 2 billion National Insurance hike for the self-employed, as former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith added his voice to calls for a rethink of the move. In a round of post-Budget broadcast interviews, the Chancellor insisted that the decision – along with a cut in tax-free dividend allowances which will also hit the self-employed – was “fair and appropriate”.