Labour makes social security commitment for self-employed

Labour is committing to create equality in the social security system between the millions of self-employed and other workers.

The party said there were "significant" gaps in the National Insurance framework affecting self-employed people, who make up 15% of the UK workforce.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Debbie Abrahams will tell a conference in London: "In so many ways self-employment is characteristic of both the opportunities and the challenges faced by our society.

"It brings to the individual a combination of great freedom with great risk, an ability to build one's own enterprise or to work flexibly around other priorities, it can offer great prosperity for some, but poverty pay for others.

"We have a huge opportunity to change the way we work, harnessing digital communication to make a living in a way that suits each of us.

"I believe that there are five tests that any policy looking to strengthen social security for the self-employed must meet.

"Tests of adequacy, fairness, equality, responsibility, and respect for mutually re-enforcing principles of contribution, universalism and means-testing in our social security system."

She pledged that Labour will address issues such as self-employed workers not being eligible for sick pay or paternity pay.