They are a teeming army of creative, versatile, self-reliant risk-takers and the backbone of the British economy. Alternatively, they are opportunistic tax dodgers, functionaries who masquerade as entrepreneurs to qualify for perks unavailable to mere salaried employees.
Britain’s 4.8 million self-employed came under the spotlight as never before this week as Philip Hammond hit the higher-earning of them with National Insurance increases and drastically watered down a dividend allowance of which they were big potential beneficiaries.
The chancellor argued that they were now benefitting from the same state pension and welfare entitlements as waged workers so should not be treated preferentially in the tax system. Cue widespread howls about this dangerous attack on entrepreneurs and wealth creators.
After the intervention of Theresa May, the NI