Boris Johnson has said he wants to raise the national insurance threshold to £12,500, letting slip a major Tory tax cut from the manifesto as he was speaking to workers in Teesside.

The prime minister blurted out the key announcement as he was pressed by an employee at a fabrication yard about whether he would help “people like us”, not just the rich.

However, it quickly emerged that the Tories would only pledge to raise the threshold to £9,500 next year, then lift it gradually over many years until it reached the target £12,500.

The policy would initially be a tax cut of about £85 a year and aim towards a reduction of around £460 for everyone earning more than the current threshold of £8,632.

Johnson originally claimed the target would be £12,000, not £12,500, then stumbled over the timescale for the promise. He told one broadcaster it would be over the course of a parliament but it was later clarified to be a long-term ambition with no deadline. He also appeared to suggest wrongly that the initial £9,500 level would lead to tax bills lower by £500 a year, instead of £85 per year.

“The £9,500 … it’ll be soon in the next parliament if we’re lucky enough to be re-elected. This will put around £500 in people’s pockets,” he said, incorrectly. Read more

Also Read: General election leaders’ debate: who won?

hw.jc