AS a fellow self-employed individual, I would like to say hear, hear to Martin Simcock’s article (Journal Opinion, November 1). Spot on Martin.

None of our political parties over the 37 years I have been running my business have the balls to sort out and simplify the tax system.

The latest stealth tax they have hoisted on the people was the change in the dividend tax for the self-employed. That was a 7 per cent pay cut over two years for us. It has cost me £1,600 loss of earnings in the first year. I cannot negotiate my mortgage or bills down, (perhaps our well educated chancellor can give me some advice on how this can be done I am sure he’s had to do the same), in fact, the bills are all going up. So do I sell my house and down size? No its part of my pension plan. So as the tax man has so arrogantly said to me in the past when complaining over other issues, “don’t you pass that onto your customers”. Well I have had to put up my rates up by £ 1.25 per hour not to get richer as some of my clients may feel but to stand still. I tell my clients straight up, blame the chancellor and then explain.

So in effect they have managed to stealth tax my clients by another 7 per cent whilst getting me to take the flack for the rising cost because they have no balls to face the music themselves. Of course they deflected attention from this stealth tax hit by using the BBC to run a campaign back in March about how good we self-employed have been having it and that we bad boys should be brought in line with PAYE. Do we get all the benefit’s they get and the nine to five hours?!! Do we hell. Yes I know some PAYE have contracts that they have to get the job done no matter the hours. Did the BBC balance the debate by showing what the self-employed have to do, of course not? They are no longer impartial but a growing mouth piece for the self-serving political party in power.

Could you see the chancellor going to any other group and cutting their wages by 7 per cent? Of course not, the unions would have them out on strike.

Well as a result I have let two subcontractors go and down-sized my operation. The result is that HMRC will over this year and next receive less in tax revenue from me than had they left me alone or not been so greedy.

Our political elite (so they think) are frightened that telling us the truth, a casualty of modern politics, will lead to them losing power, and the financial rewards they gain from being in power. Pay, pension, perks and of course money from their books,” How I screwed over the self-employed” to mention but a few.

In an attempt to add balance to the debate, if they did simplify the tax system, think of all those jobs that would be lost. Those created to administer each new stealth tax. So that successive governments could claim they were bringing down unemployment as another way to hang onto power and votes. Wake up 85 per cent of Britain we are all being screwed over.

And hear is yet another p*** take by the Chancellor. In his recent budget it was announced that he would be looking into ways to encourage the self-employed to put more money into their pensions. Well before the dividend tax I was able to put more in and had, but not now he has taken that away from us. For the record I will be lucky to clear more than £10 a week out of my fund, if I get there and we have a national health service to keep me alive longer as they keep telling us, as the reason we have to work longer. Another broken social contract by those that will not feel its affect.

John Glen has lamented to me that MPs are not shown the respect they used to get, is it a wonder?

We live in a society that is getting more and more volatile towards each other and authority figures. Is it a wonder? Our ruling parties are making so many more people angrier all the time that it is boiling over at times. I know, I feel it.

Simon Tubb

Salisbury