Tell Tony why you gave him a bloody nose
The House of Commons debated IR 35 on Wednesday 3rd May. The PCG Political Director; David Ramsden provides some background and also advice on action to be taken as a result of the bloody nose given to Tony in the local elections.
Government Bills go through a set procedure in the Houses of Parliament.
First, a Bill is laid before Parliament
Second and, normally some two weeks later, the whole House has an opportunity of debating the principle of the measure in question.
This is called 'second reading'.
Following 'second reading', most Bills go into a Committee Room, where a small committee of MPs from all Parties look at the Bill in fine detail.
Sometimes, because of the content of a Bill and, because many Members of Parliament wish to contribute, Committee stage is taken on the floor of the House of Commons, termed: Committee of the Whole House
There are five clauses in this year's Finance Bill which have been taken by the Committee of the Whole House, and IR35 is one such clause.
The debate took place on Wednesday 3rd May, and it goes to show that IR35 is still a very contentious issue. The debate was on the principle of IR35 and not the fine detail contained in the Schedule to the Bill. The schedule is still to be dealt with, by the small committee.
Wednesday's debate was a bad tempered affair with both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrat parties castigating the Government for bringing in an unwanted and nasty piece of legislation.
There is no doubt that all the opposition spokesmen were well briefed and asked very pertinent questions. Some big guns were there, such as Sir Nicholas Lyell, the former Attorney General, very vocal in his attack.
In the event, the Government passed the clause but with a majority cut to just over 100.
The schedule to the Bill now goes to the small committee.
Is this the end of the matter? Have we now finally lost?
The answer to both questions is NO.
First there is still time for the Government to make changes. In fact there have been whispers for some time now that changes will be made, but we see no evidence of that yet.
Second there is still time for the Government to have a change of heart and drop the clause from the Bill. Unlikely, yes, but impossible, no.
You may have noted that tax proposals for multi national companies have been delayed and so could IR35.
In order for this to happen we need a renewed spate of letters to Members of Parliament, particularly Labour Members.
The Labour Party has just suffered a serious setback in the elections for both the Mayor of London and, in Local Council elections.
Labour MPs need to be told that you voted against their Party as a protest over IR35 and, that you persuaded your friends to do likewise. The Labour Party needs to understand that there are still a lot of very angry people out there in the Country who will not take IR35 lying down and will use every opportunity to make their point to Government.
You need to make the point that, you consider the culprit to be, Dawn Primarolo, the Paymaster General, who clearly, does not understand the reality of contracting; has made no effort to understand and; is driven by old Labour envy of anyone who sets out to make a success in life.
Why is it she only ever makes comparisons with people working in the public sector when she talks about IR35? Why is it she only ever talks about a Nurse working for the NHS as a direct employee and not a Nurse who provides her services through a Nursing Bank?
The Professional Contractors Group will continue with their briefings for those MPs who make up the smaller, Finance Bill Committee, but these briefings need to be backed up by letters,….letters,….letters.
David Ramsden
PCG Political Director