Tories plan tax breaks

Business leaders would be offered tax breaks by a Conservative government to persuade them to recruit more staff, David Cameron will announce today as he puts plans to ease the ‘pain of mass unemployment’ at the heart of his economic agenda. The Conservatives say the measures – which are expected to include a National Insurance payment holiday for new workers – can be justified by the resulting savings from unemployment benefits. The move follows Gordon Brown’s hint yesterday that the Government is preparing limited tax cuts in the pre-Budget report expected next week.