Self-Employment Ambassador's criticism of Labour Party

The Government's self-employment ambassador has hit out at the Labour Party for its failure to recognise the importance of the self-employed to the UK economy.

David Morris MP, said he was 'sad' that the Opposition Party sees the rise in self-employment as 'a failure in the labour market' and urged them to 'embrace it, purely and simply because it is better for us all.'

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Morris criticised the recently published 'A Better Plan for Britain's Prosperity' which was described as Labour's 'modern industrial strategy for businesses and working families to succeed together'. The publication suggested that the rise of self-employment could in part be evidence of growing insecurity in the labour market.

Mr Morris said he was 'sad to see that the Opposition had not recognised the importance of (the self-employed) sector...and sees it as a failure in the labour market, which is quite wrong.'

He said: "The self-employment sector in this country accounts for 760,000 new businesses created since 2010, which shows that the country has an entrepreneurial spirit, with huge advantages for taxation. I hold out an olive branch to the Opposition and ask them to embrace it, purely and simply because it is better for us all, irrespective of political party."

Concern

Freelancer and self-employed group, IPSE said that they shared the concern expressed by Mr Morris.

Simon McVicker, Director of Policy and External Affairs at IPSE, said: "Over the last two years we have spent a lot of time engaging with the Labour Party around self-employment and one person businesses.

"We believed there was a good narrative the Labour Party could have put forward to this backbone of the economy. However we are deeply disappointed in their business manifesto for the election, which has not offered any encouraging or positive words about the phenomenal rise we have seen in self-employment over the last few years.

"Instead they have suggested it is down to a market failure, completely ignoring the vast majority of self-employed individuals that have chosen to work in this way. David Morris is absolutely right to call them out on this. We still hope a Shadow Cabinet Minister may say something positive in this area before 7th May.

"The 4.5 million self-employed are making a huge contribution to the economy and are a vital resource for UK businesses. We would like to know what Labour's policies are for this vital sector of the labour market."