Author Archives: Nathan Sutherland

The Tories’ Decision on IR35 Reform Will Impact More People Than You Think

By Nathan Sutherland | Wed 15th July 2020 - 9:15 am

Unfortunately, despite the Lib Dem call for the IR35 reform to be scrapped, the Government has announced it will go ahead with the reform from April 2021.

Before I get onto the effects it will have on the Self-Employed, let us go over a little background. In the 2019 General Election, the Liberal Democrats were the first to address the IR35 reform, saying they would review it. Ed Davey said it would “undermine the flexibility of self-employed people”. They were followed by Labour, who pledged to halt the IR35 reforms, then went back on it, then changed their minds again. This is only one part of Labour’s confusing relationship with IR35 as it was the idea of Gordon Brown in the first place! The Conservatives, “the party of business”, worried contractors with their silence over the issue until Sajid Javid announced that if the Tories retained their Government, they would review the IR35 reform, it was more a last-minute vote grab than a policy.

Anyway, back to now, what effects will this reform have on self-employed? The aspect of the IR35 reforms with the biggest impact has been the responsibility of employment status being on the client/employer/agent rather than what was previously the responsibility of the contractor/employee to evidence.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged hmrc, IR35 and The Tories | 17 Comments

SNP divisions on Brexit make independence less likely

By Nathan Sutherland | Sun 12th July 2020 - 12:55 pm

It feels as though from the minute that Scotland voted No to independence in 2014 the SNP have been seeking “IndyRef2”.

The independence debate in Scotland isn’t just whether you want to be part of the UK anymore, it is whether Scotland will re-join the EU if they become independent.

Although revoking article 50 was a part of SNP’s 2019 General election manifesto, their party isn’t united on the Brexit front. In fact over a third of SNP voters voted for Brexit. I suppose they are staying true to the party’s isolationism.

The reason I’m mentioning this is it now makes the independence debate more difficult for those on the Yes side due to the fact that some want Scotland to re-join the EU if they became independent and some would rather Scotland become separated from both the UK and the EU.

Whether Scotland would be allowed to re-join the EU is a debatable issue in itself and even if Scotland were to re-join, it wouldn’t be the same relationship as the UK had with the EU prior to Brexit.

The SNP will cause controversy either way they choose to go but are most likely going to re-join the EU(if they can), as over half of their party voted to remain.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged brexit and scottish independence | 18 Comments