Winning the self-employed vote

Writing in Tuesday's Times, Paul Johnson, a director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, says some 15% of the UK workforce is now classed as self-employed or as an owner/manager. Among them is me, now in my 17th year of my second period of self-employment. Indeed, I am the fourth generation of small business petit bourgeoisie Roches (so far, no generation has managed to propel us permanently to the haute bourgeoisie).

Many of the new self-employed are part of what is now known as the "gig economy": living on short term contracts and often experiencing a financial life of feast and famine. Family insecurity and financial instability are frequent visitors, especially in the early years of a business, when getting established can be a real struggle.

Some new businesses, a very small minority, will grow to be giants. Others will grow to modest size and give their owners a comfortable life. Others will get by, with good years and bad. A Royal Society of Arts study suggests that 55% will not reach their fifth birthday.

Businesses fail for many reasons. Early years failure is a sad but inevitable part of the hard world of business. The biggest single reason for failure is cash flow problems, often caused by late payment by customers. Sometimes it is the taxman who drives people into difficulty.

Dealing with the taxman is about to get more time-consuming and more expensive for business. Next year, starting with very small self-employed businesses, tax returns will be need to be filed online five times a year, with payments due four times a year.

Expect lots of teething problems with the new system. Expect people being driven out of business because of mistakes by the taxman. Expect howls of protests from businesses being told that expenses they for years have thought tax deductible will not be entertained any longer.

Now, nobody should be allowed to make claims that are not legal and everyone should pay the right tax due and at the right time. But the small business sector - often individuals working alone from home - is feeling under increasing strain.

No political party seems to be loudly standing up for the self-employed. The Tories say they are the party of business, though I can't recall any significant statements of support in recent times.

The nature of self-employment has changed greatly in the last dozen years. Many professional in media, advertising, accountancy, public relations, graphic design, IT and computing, in broadcasting, magazines and newspapers and a dozen other jobs are done by self-employed people and those on short term contracts. Many hold views of the world that make them natural entrepreneurs and social democrats. Lib Dems need to be carving out policies and messages to reach and influence these people.

We should be talking about supporting them and about how we support the vital public services - particularly the NHS - that Lib Dems hold dear and fight for daily. Self-employment and illness can be devastating. Being ill often means little or no income and falling back on savings (if lucky enough to have them).

Most of the 15 million self-employed are in England. Not only should we be helping then grow and succeed for the long term, we should be seeking to win them as confirmed supporters and confirmed Lib Dem voters.

* Martin Roche is a member of Canterbury LibDems. He spent a number of years as a business start-up adviser.