Labour Shadow Minister Calls On Govt. To Protect Workers From Uber

28 October 2016, 18:04 | Updated: 29 October 2016, 12:15

As Jack Dromey hails “landmark victory” against Uber, one driver reveals to Iain Dale how he avoids paying taxes while driving for them.

Speaking to Iain Dale, Mr Dromey was heavily critical of how the car hailing service operates and treats the people who drive for it.

Uber makes “hundreds of millions of pounds of profit”, he said, but because the drivers are self-employed, the company is not required to provide any sick pay, holiday pay and some are said to not even earn the minimum wage. Mr Dromey called this “absolutely wrong.”

The former head of the Transport and General Workers Union said that if Labour were in government, he would “absolutely” move to outlaw the kind of business model that Uber, and others in the “gig economy”, operate. He called on the present government to do more to prove they are on the side of workers.

“Our new Prime Minister has said that she’s a ‘champion of working people’. Well in those circumstances, what will the government do about such working practices?

“There’s a review under way and they should act and they should act decisively.”

The earning power of Uber drivers is widely disputed, with some saying it provides a healthy living and others saying they have to work 60-70 hours a week to make it viable for them.

One caller revealed that he earned so little money from driving for Uber the only way he could make it work was by not paying taxes.

He claims that he gave Uber a bank account in another country to pay his earnings into and that stopped him being charged tax on them.

A spokesman for Uber has dismissed the caller's claim, saying; "This can't be true as Uber only pay U.K. drivers into U.K. bank accounts. We have seen this rumour on twitter - but it's not true."