Issue 32; 3 December 1999

E-petition | Francis Maude MP | Sunday Times | Minutes of IR Meeting | Draft Contract | MP Database

E-petition against IR 35
The E-petition was announced on Friday last week and by Monday had attracted several thousand signatures. At one point during the press call on Monday the e-mails were arriving at the rate of one every 5 seconds.

In a debate on the e-commerce bill Alan Duncan MP questioned Labour commitment to IT. In what turned out to be a heated exchange of words, Alan Duncan MP criticised the Government on its supposed Pro-IT stance. He questioned the validity of their commitment to IT and its capability when introducing new technology to its departments - who can forget the summer fiasco involving passports!

Mr Duncan stated that the Government pretended "that they favour IT and the great internet revolution, but they planned to introduce IR35" which would cripple those who were responsible for the growth and advances in that sector, forcing many to consider moving abroad. He suggested that the Government was "kicking people out" of Britain through unfair discrimination against entrepreneurs but giving visa exemptions to people from overseas.

Francis Maude MP questions Brown
Francis Maude MP, the Shadow Chancellor attacked Gordon Brown and the Labour Government on 24th November. He questioned all that the Government had stated about the growth of the economy. He raised several important points concerning the decrease in growth of productivity since Labour had taken power.

He emphasised the fact that entrepreneurs were taking their skills and fleeing the country as a result of the proposed IR35 policy proposal. He quoted from the letter featured in newsletter issue 30 and stated "We said that it would drive people abroad and it is already doing so. The economy, the country and the new technologies will all suffer from that ill-judged measure."

Sunday Times cover IR35
An interesting article appeared in The Sunday Times (28/11/99). The article on IR35 comes under the wing of the Sunday Times' attack on Red Tape Britain. Quoting from a PCG member, it clearly describes the detrimental effects the proposed policy would have on their business. The news item explains to the reader the full extent of damage that would occur to self-employed contractors and small businesses should IR35 be implemented.

Ian Peters, deputy director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce is scathing in his view of what IR35 would do to British entrepreneurs. He is quoted in the Sunday Times article as saying. "It is an attack on enterprise, entrepreneurship and business flexibility". He goes on to state, "What is really worrying is this red tape, but more than that it is stifling enterprise."

Links to Hansard and news articles

In addition David Hopkins has added a page of press cuttings which track some of the media achieved through Susie Hughes efforts. This can be found at: Press Cuttings

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

Minutes of meeting with Inland Revenue
Andy White and Kevin Miller attended meetings at the Inland Revenue together with other representative bodies on 25th November. To read the minutes of the meeting.

New Information posted to the Forum FAQ's
Kevin Miller, has put up some interesting information for you to read in the Legal & Accounting FAQ section of the Forum Notice Board. Items include: Corporation tax issues, choosing a new accountant, checking employment status, taking income or assets offshore. In addition Brain Curnow is collating information on working overseas. These are contributed by members who have hard won experience on the ground. Latest information includes Dubai, New Zealand, Italy, Germany, France and Sweden. By using the Fora you can raise individual questions on these issues.

Draft contract for consultation
This draft contract has now been issued to members and other Representative bodies for their input. It describes a business relationship to meet the criteria set down for self employment. It is important to realise that whilst this describes the form of the relationship the actual substance of the relationship must also match up. We aim to gather input on the draft agreement up to Christmas. Following this we will issue the final document together with detailed guidance for members - Draft Agreement

MP database
We have added a script to allow you to record in detail the communications with your MP. Following input by Members we will make the output page public so Contractors can check on what their MP has said about IR 35.

For input into MP database

To check on your MP

Kind regards
Andy White
Chairman, PCG
e: [email protected]