Business groups hit out after the chancellor signals she will raise the amount employers pay in National Insurance.

The government uses National Insurance contributions (NICs) to pay for benefits and to help fund the NHS. It is paid by employees, employers and the self-employed across the UK. Those over the state pension age do not pay it, even if they are working.

The tax expert adds that in the extreme case that an increase of one pence per pound in employer NICs was passed on to employees in the form of lower wages, the measure would only net £4.5 billion a year. He adds that the end figure would probably be a little higher than this, but much less than a previous HMRC estimate of £8.5 billion.

The chancellor was speaking at the government's International Investment Summit, where deals worth £63bn were hailed.

Rachel Reeves will announce Labour’s first Budget in 15 years later this month, leading one of the most highly-anticipated fiscal events in over a decade. As the chancellor looks to fill the £22bn “black hole” in public spending she announced in late July,

The Chancellor told ministers on Monday that plans to fill a £22 billion black hole would be enough only to ‘keep public services standing still’.