Dear Editor

As someone who has worked for himself for over a quarter of a century I write to express how annoyed and disappointed I am by the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s move to increase Class 4 NICs for the self-employed. By doing so he has flagrantly broken a clear and unambiguous manifesto commitment made by the Conservatives in the run-up to the last election.

I know it has been argued that the move creates a more level playing field between the self-employed and the employed but that is utter nonsense. The self-employed are not entitled to claim many of the benefits that can be claimed by people who work for employers, which is a key reason why their NICs are lower.

I cannot for the life of me understand why the Chancellor has chosen to mount a tax raid on a section of society that includes such a high percentage of supporters of his own party and the sort of hard working, self-motivated entrepreneurs that the government surely wants to encourage. I find myself agreeing with the Shadow Chancellor’s criticisms of his decision – the first time I have agreed with John McDonnell over anything.

I would strongly urge the Chancellor to reverse his decision and instead concentrate his fire on companies that are avoiding paying employer’s NICs by insisting that their workers adopt bogus self-employed status. Such a step would most certainly help to level a very bumpy playing field indeed.

Steve Banner, Lea