Last week, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones stated that a “working person” is “anyone who gets a payslip”. It was meant to reassure PAYE employees that Labour’s tax pledges would protect them. But for the five million self employed people and over a million microbusinesses across the UK, this definition wasn’t just clumsy, it was insulting.
This isn’t just about semantics. It’s about who counts in the eyes of government.
As we outlined in our recent paper on the invisibility of home-based and microbusinesses, policymakers consistently overlook a huge part of the UK economy. Whether it’s access to funding, local authority engagement, or eligibility for support schemes, the self employed and smallest firms are routinely sidelined.
Now we find ourselves erased from even the language of policy. No payslip? Apparently, not a “working person”.
Yet it is self employed tradespeople, freelancers, childminders, shopkeepers, and home-based entrepreneurs who kept local economies alive during the toughest of times. Many work longer hours, face greater risk, and contribute just as much, often more, than those in salaried employment.
To define “working people” solely through the lens of a payroll system is to perpetuate a lazy and outdated view of the economy. It excludes millions who don’t just work, they create work, for themselves and others.
Labour, and any government that claims to back business, must update its understanding. The economy is no longer binary: PAYE versus big business. It is dynamic, diverse, and driven in large part by people who’ve never seen a payslip in their life.
We urge the government to correct this rhetoric and, more importantly, ensure its policies reflect all of the UK’s working people, not just the ones on someone else’s payroll.