It’s only 2 days until the UK General Election, and from what I’m hearing many freelancers and contractors are still undecided about who to vote for.
Many of the nearly 5 million self employed workers in the UK are wondering which party is concerned with the issues that affect many freelancers, contractors, gig workers, and small business owners.
Some pundits have said that a vote for the Tories might not be the best option, especially when you consider the recent tax grab they tried to get out of the self employed. Fortunately, people power won the day, and Mr Hammond backed down and decided to forget about more tax…for now.
I’m sure that many freelance professionals who normally vote Conservative might very well be thinking twice now, even to the point where they are going to vote for another party.
What are the other options though…Labour? According to some, they have been making the most “freelance friendly” noises during the campaign trail for the General Election, but if you ask me, it’s probably just a case of politicians making promises they wouldn’t keep if given the power.
One thing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has promised to do is keep National Insurance Contributions as they are…if the nation decides to elect him as Prime Minister.
Also, he has gone on record to say that Labour would be the voice of the small business owner around the country.
He would also scrap the Making Tax Digital plans, although if recent reports are to be trusted then it seems that it’s already been forgotten about.
Not only that, but Mr Corbyn has said that companies who pay freelancers late, or don’t pay at all, should be given tougher punishments. This is something I definitely agree with and an area where more needs to be done.
However, would the Labour leader follow through with his promises if given the keys to Number 10. Something tells me he wouldn’t…although something also tells me that he won’t be Prime Minister.
Who knows though? Most people were expecting a Hilary Clinton victory over Donald Trump and look what happened there…It’s now President Trump.
Also, who can forget the Brexit vote, with many so called “experts” predicting an easy victory for remaining in Europe…nobody really saw coming what did happen, and now as we speak Britain are negotiating an exit from the European Union.
Who knows? Maybe on Friday morning we will be waking up to a victory speech from Prime Minister Corbyn, and then freelancers and contractors around the country will wait to see if he delivers on his promises.
So who should you vote for on Thursday? That choice is yours, although if you really can’t decide then you might want to stay away and not vote at all this time around.
