Why Badenoch And Farage Are Wrong When They Say India Trade Deal Shows 'Two-Tier Taxes'

Kemi Badenoch, Keir Starmer and Nigel FarageKemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage have condemned the government’s new trade deal with India for creating a two-tier tax system.Although the agreement brings three years of negotiations to a close and is set to bring £4.8bn to the UK economy by 2040, it has been torn apart by the Conservatives and Reform UK.The opposition MPs criticised the agreement because it allows Indian workers seconded by their companies to the UK to be exempt from paying National Insurance for three years.Tory leader Badenoch claimed she rejected such a deal with India when she was in government, alleging on X that it was an example of “two-tier taxes from two-tier Keir”.This is two-tier taxes from two-tier Keir.I refused to sign this deal because:1️⃣ Tax refunds for Indians not available to us 2️⃣ Visa requests too high 3️⃣ Ceramics and Aluminium industries would be screwed.Andrew is 100% correct.When Labour negotiates Britain loses. https://t.co/TiC3gOc21o— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) May 6, 2025Her shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said it showed “British workers come last in Starmer’s Britain”.Meanwhile Reform’s Farage said the deal “discriminates against British workers”.Even Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper suggested the terms of the agreement risk “undercutting British workers at a time when they’re already being hammered by Trump’s trade war and Labour’s misguided jobs tax”.That is a reference to Labour’s controversial decision to raise employers’ National Insurance payments in the Budget.Keir Starmer slammed the attacks as “incoherent nonsense” during prime minister’s questions.That’s because it is a reciprocal deal: British workers on a short-term visa will not have to pay social security taxes in India, meaning it prevents workers being taxed twice.The UK also has 16 other agreements, including with the EU, the US and South Korea, which do the same thing – prevent workers paying tax in both their home countries and during their secondments.As business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds explained today: “The Conservatives recently, well, a few years ago, when they were in government, signed [a similar deal] with Chine for five years.“So no, British workers are not being undercut.”He told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “What the Conservatives are confused about, and Reform as well, is a situation where a business in India seconds someone for a short period of time to the UK, or a UK business seconds a worker to India for a short period of time, where you don’t pay in simultaneously now to both social security systems.”Even members of Badenoch’s own party agreed with the government and praised the new deal initially.The Tories’ shadow trade secretary Andrew Griffith said the agreement showed the government recognised that “reducing cost and burdens on businesses in international trade is a good thing, and that thanks to Brexit, we can do”.Former deputy PM Oliver Downden wrote on X that the deal “builds on significant progress made by [the] previous Conservative government”.And Theresa May’s Brexit minister, Steve Baker, described the deal as “great news” adding: “The tax issue will likely turn out to be a red herring. We should be celebrating that a Labour government has furthered free trade in the national interest outside the EU.”Related...Yvette Cooper 'Blindsided' By Tax Break For Indian Workers In UK Trade DealRishi Sunak Says A Trade Deal With India Is Still Not Done And People Are Making The Same PointThe Art Of US Trade Deal: Does The UK Actually Have The Upper Hand With Trump Right Now?

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