Stewart Blackmore, Vice Chair of the Isle of Wight Constituency Labour Party shares this latest news. Ed
Government changes to National Insurance contributions – which will leave 9,000 Isle of Wight self-employed people worse off – have been attacked by the Island’s Labour Party.
Labour said the move announced in this week’s budget was an attack on hard work and entrepreneurialism that would cause unfair hardship on a large proportion of the Island’s working population – including those who had left or lost their jobs as the result of government austerity cuts.
Attacking a significant group of people
Labour Party chair, Deborah Gardiner, said,
“Not only does this measure break a key Tory manifesto pledge it also attacks a significant group of people who have had the courage to set out on their own.
“The claims of the Tory Government that they are on the side of working people has been shown to be an outright lie. I find it astonishing that on a local level, Andrew Turner with his high salary and expensive property portfolio, seems oblivious to the harm this ill-judged policy shift will do to great many people and their families.”
Unwarranted and unnecessary step
Island Labour Vice-chair Stewart Blackmore added,
“Many self-employed people have set out on their own having been made redundant because of austerity measures. Choosing to attack these people and leaving the richest people to enjoy favourable tax breaks shows who the Tory Government is really working for.
“Self-employed people have no holiday or sickness entitlement and they also often work on very tight margins. This unwarranted and unnecessary step could be the difference between success and failure for thousands of traders on the Island.”
