A party that was founded to challenge the established order should be the natural party of small businesses and the self-employed.

Small businesses provide the intellectual and market challenge that creates value and innovation for consumers, and the majority of the job growth in our economy.

Nine in 10 unemployed people who become employed do so at a small business, and as the path from unemployment to self-employment is such a well-trodden one. There cannot be any doubt that the party of work will see supporting small businesses and self-employment as a key priority.

But the self-employed are not just important because many subsequently become employers. Self-employment is not only a route out of unemployment but also an attractive alternative to a job market in which people are increasingly finding it difficult to make ends meet.

As someone who ran their own business for five years prior to becoming a member of parliament, I am very conscious of some of the obstacles that face small businesses.

Becoming self-employed can be incredibly daunting. The self-employed small business-owner becomes instantly wearer of the several hats – salesperson, marketing manager, buyer, accountant, receptionist, website administrator and cleaner to name a few.

Alongside that they can find it almost impossible to get a mortgage and are particularly vulnerable to many of the day-to-day pressures of parenting, sickness and personal crises.

A perennial truism is that when the self-employed take the day off, no one gets paid.

Ed Miliband’s Labour government will be a friend to the self-employed not just because it makes political and economic sense to, but also because it is entirely in tune with our values.

Part of that support for self-employment can come through cracking down on the bogus self-employment that has been an increasing feature of our economy under this government.

The construction industry and the care sector have long seen workers have to be classified as self-employed in order to get work, but this practice is becoming increasingly widespread, as the Tory-led government encouraged the practice by removing health and safety rights for the self-employed.

But having tackled exploitation of the non-voluntarily self-employed, access to better business support, a benefit cushion to ease the path from unemployment to self-employment, simplified taxation reporting, and seeking more sympathetic treatment for the self-employed from mortgage companies will all be a priority for the a future Labour government.

Labour has also led the way through its Small Business Taskforce report in calling for government to extend the benefits of employer supported childcare to the self-employed a measure the government adopted.

In today’s series of articles John Toner of the National Union of Journalists reflects on how freelancers can be exploited in the modern media, while Benedict Dellot of the RSA says like it or not self-employment is the new norm and politics will have to reflect that new reality. Duncan O’Leary follows on from the work he has been doing as deputy director of Demos and Labour’s parliamentary candidate in Stafford Kate Godfrey reports on her experience. Neeta Patel of the New Entrepreneurs Foundation outlines how government can cut away bureaucracy to support growth. Labour Finance and Industry Group’s Philip Ross argues that the self-employed and freelancers constitute a new ‘forgotten middle’, while we are also pleased to have George Anastasi of the Association for Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed contributing to the day presenting some of the main recommendations of IPSE’s manifesto. Each of these raises a variety of important issues not all of which will be Labour policy but which are worthy of exploration and discussion as we pull together our plans for improving the situation of the self-employed in the United Kingdom.

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Toby Perkins MP is shadow minister for small business. Today he is guest editing the Progress website on the topic of self-employment. You can read all of the pieces from the guest edit here

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Photo: Russell Davies