UK’s Truss to Review Rules on Tax and Strikes

(Bloomberg) — Liz Truss, the front-runner to become Britain’s next prime minister, will rethink taxes paid by self-employed workers and try to limit disruptive strikes, according to an interview with the Sun newspaper.

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(Bloomberg) — Liz Truss, the front-runner to become Britain’s next prime minister, will rethink taxes paid by self-employed workers and try to limit disruptive strikes, according to an interview with the Sun newspaper. 

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Foreign Secretary Truss said she would order a review of the IR35 rules to make sure freelance workers are treated fairly, if she is chosen to succeed Boris Johnson as leader next month. The government’s reforms to the rules last year have faced criticism from lawmakers for being too difficult to navigate.

“The changes that have been made to IR35 are all about trying to treat the self-employed the same as big business,” she said. “But the fact is, if you’re self-employed, you don’t get the same benefits as being in a big company. You don’t get paid holidays, you didn’t get those benefits. So the tax system should reflect that more.”

Truss also repeated her call for new legislation to make it harder for industrial action to disrupt business and travel. Her remarks came as transport union-led strikes continue to interrupt national rail and local London services. She also reiterated plans to slash the number of civil servants and cut red tape on businesses. 

She said the UK needed to secure its energy supplies by drilling more in the North Sea, building more nuclear power stations, and allowing fracking where locals want it.