Sir Keir Starmer was quizzed on the “breaking” of charities. 

The Prime Minister has again ruled out an exemption for charities from rising National Insurance Contributions as he was warned about the challenges facing the third sector.  

Sir Keir Starmer was quizzed by Tory MP Caroline Dinenage at Westminster’s Liaison Committee earlier this week. 

Ms Dinenage, who chairs the parliament’s Culture Select Committee, asked what support would be provided to charities facing increased overheads and demand for their services, as well as declining donations.

Mr Starmer did not say what support would be provided, but underlined that he did not support exempting charities from the uplift to National Insurance Contributions. 

Ms Dinegage said she supported a “blanket carve-out” for charities, but Mr Starmer opposed the proposal. 

He said: “It is important. I think over half of charities have been exempted from the national insurance rises. We are looking at what we can do on business rates etc for charities and to put in the support that they need.”

The Prime Minister pointed to the Civil Society Covenant as an example of partnership between the government and charities, denying that he was “attempting to break our charities” and reiterating the £22billion “missing” from the UK’s public finances. 

He said: “We addressed that in the budget and at the same time we used the money from that NICs increase to invest hugely in our NHS.

 “We promised two million extra appointments in the first year of a Labour government. We have done 4.5 million. That takes the pressure off many, many charities.”