A BOLTON businesswoman has described a rise in National Insurance for self-employed workers in the Spring Budget as "unfair".

Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the National Insurance contributions (NICs) of almost 2.5 million self-employed people will rise by an average £240 a year — despite a Conservative manifesto promise that they would not rise during this Parliament.

Karen Openshaw, who runs her own consultancy firm, said: “I think it is really, really unfair to try and target people who are trying to help themselves and provide services to the community.

“I think it is a very short-sighted move to hit self-employed people, who will be trying to grow their own businesses and to boost the local economy.

“Being self-employed is difficult enough sometimes, because you can’t get sick pay or anything like that.

“So to be punished in this way seems really unfair to me, and will particularly hit small businesses in towns like Bolton.”

Chancellor Philip Hammond told MPs that the “dramatically different” treatment of employees and self-employed people under NICs was “no longer justified by the difference in benefits entitlement” and cost the Treasury £5 billion this year alone.

He said: “That is not fair to the 85 per cent of workers who are employees.

“To be able to support our public services in this Budget and to improve the fairness of the tax system, I will act to reduce the gap to better reflect the current differences in state benefits.”

Treasury sources insisted that the increase from 9 per cent to 11 per cent over two years in the contributions paid by the self-employed did not breach the manifesto pledge, as legislation passed after the election specified only that contributions paid by employees would not rise.

The Chancellor told MPs that, taken together with a previously-announced decision to abolish Class 2 NICs from 2018, the overall average loss to self-employed people would amount to 60p a week.

Defending the tax hike, a Treasury source said: “The tax system has to be sustainable. That’s how we can put money into social care and the NHS.”

The source insisted: “This Government has kept its manifesto commitments.”

A £435 million package to help pubs and other firms facing major hikes in their business rates was also one of the key features of the Spring Budget.

Pubs with a rateable value of less than £100,000 — some 90 per cent of establishments — will be given a £1,000 discount on their rates in 2017.

However, some say the discount does not go far enough.

Richard Greenwood, landlord of Ye Olde Man and Scythe in Churchgate, said: “I am concerned about our business rates.

"Bolton is notorious for high business rates and we were actually told that ours would go up this year.

“The government can say that there is this discount, but it isn’t as much as it should be given that pubs are trading a lot lower than they used to.”

Local councils will be given a £300 million fund to deliver “discretionary relief” to hard-pressed firms in their areas.

Mr Hammond also said that firms set to lose small business relief would benefit from an additional cap on bill rises, limiting hikes in monthly bills to £50 for a year.

Cllr Cliff Morris, leader of Bolton Council, said: “In Bolton, we support our small businesses in every way we can because local Labour believes they are the backbone of the local economy, from Horwich, to Farnworth, to Westhoughton, but detail around the that is yet to be confirmed £300 million is smoke and mirrors game by the government yet again.”

Mr Hammond said the Budget sets out a plan for a “brighter future” as the UK leaves the European Union.

With Prime Minister Theresa May expected to start the formal Brexit process within days, the Chancellor told the Commons: “As we start our negotiations to exit the European Union, this Budget takes forward our plan to prepare Britain for a brighter future; it provides a strong and stable platform for those negotiations.”

He added: “We are building the foundations of a stronger, fairer, more global Britain.”

Also included in the Budget announcements was £90 million worth of funding earmarked to improve road networks in the North.

Local authorities will also be able to bid for a share of £690 million to tackle urban congestion.

Tony Lloyd, interim mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Creating a world-class transport system is a key priority for Greater Manchester.

“Funding to cut congestion and improve transport networks in the North is welcome but swift progress on a second Transport Fund for Greater Manchester will be critical.”