27th May 2010

New government outlines in Queen's Speech please contractors

A contract worker lobby group has said the Queen's Speech has buoyed optimism among many of the UK's contract and freelance workers.

The Professional Contractors Group (PCG) said following the new government's pledge to abolish the ineffective IR35, the outlines in the Queen's Speech for further tax and benefit reform has left many freelancers very encouraged.

John Brazier, the Managing Director of PCG – which lobbies for 1.4 million contractors nationwide – said it would all serve to help contract workers in the long-term.

"By all accounts, the momentum is clearly building to consign this unfair and unclear piece of legislation to the scrap-heap," he said.

"We particularly warmly welcome the Government’s stated commitment to establish an ‘Office of Tax Simplification’. Once IR35 is placed under the scrutiny of such a body, it will be exposed for the iniquitous and overly complex block on enterprise it really is."

He added that it could not come at a more important time, when the flexibility and reliability of contractors and freelancers will prove instrumental to the economic recovery. Brazier said the PCG would be working alongside the relevant government departments to ensure the necessary developments are implemented in the best possible way.