With that in mind, it is worth looking at one story this week which
pulled on its boots and ran. 'Tories questioned
over their stance on IR35', warned some news sites in the wake of the
Times' breaking the news with a ‘Tories reticent of tax for self-employed headline.’ For one
moment, I thought I had slept through a General Election and almost
expected to see front page pictures of William and Ffion waving happily
from outside Number 10 and Michael Portillo coming down the steps of
Number 11 brandishing his Red Box.

But no - it seemed the explanation was more simple than that. Spurred on
by a tenuous newspaper articles, other sites and pressure groups had
suddenly become engaged by a man who's only been Shadow Chancellor for
five minutes with no real power and what he might or might not do about
something which might or might not exist (remember PCG's judicial
review) and for which he might or might not have responsibility at some
unspecified and improbable point in the future. And if the latest
post-baby Blair polls are to be believed, the absolute earliest that
could happen is in six or seven years time. (And they say a week is a
long time in politics).

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest - one where reality still
prevails - lives the current Chancellor, who is driving through this
ill-conceived legislation as we speak. This is the man who, with a
stroke of his pen, could put a halt to this now. Yet, next week, he will
sit back and watch as his Ministers and officials once again drive this
unpopular and unworkable measure through Parliament during the Committee
Stage of the Finance Bill.

So what prompted journalists to lose touch with reality this week? The
genesis of the story seems to be with the Times where the reporter had
been told by a colleague that there was a rumour that Portillo had said
he might not repeal IR35. This alleged remark was allegedly made in
private, and no, could not be sourced.

In the interests of getting supportive comment for this, the journalist
started a ring-around of various groups. 'Are you demanding that
Portillo retracts his comments?' 'What comment?' 'The comments he's
meant to have made in private about not repealing IR35' 'Did he make
those comments?' 'I don't know, I've been told he did'.

At least one pressure group called Portillo's office for confirmation or
denial. They were told that Portillo, along with Hague and Maude before
him, was opposing IR35, they would not have introduced IR35 at this
point and when (rather than if!) they came to power they would review
the situation then in the light of the prevailing circumstances. But no
Opposition party reveals the details of its tax policy at this stage in
a Parliament.

For an Party in Opposition - this seems to be the right approach, to
oppose. At least one pressure group pointed out to the journalist that
the current argument was with the current Chancellor who could do
something rather than someone who couldn't do anything for years.
Needless to say, the journalist continued to ring-around until someone
said something which supported the story. And the spin was complete.

So, on the eve of the last chance for the existing Chancellor to change
his mind, can we have a 'reality check':

1. IR35 is not yet in Statute - the Labour Government could still listen
to the ever-increasing condemnation of the measure and stop it;

2. No-one is denying that there are abuses which can be tempered - but
at the moment the Government is using a B52 bomber to crack the
proverbial nut;

3. Isn't it interesting that just when the heat is being turned up by
many reputable organisations, a Shadow Chancellor is expected to justify
a hypothetical situation; whereas no-one seems to be knocking at number
11, where the architect of IR35 can be caught in the act of killing off
the enterprise economy and driving many small businesses to the wall or
to foreign climes.

And before anyone thinks this is a party political broadcast on behalf
of the Conservative Party, let me make it clear that should the Tories
find themselves in power sooner than the pundits predict, I will be
beating a path to their door and demanding action. This has nothing to
do with political preferences - it has more to do with dealing with the
facts as they stand rather than tripping off to fantasy island.

In the meantime, when attention should have focused on the Government
about to nail the lid down on the enterprise coffin for good despite the
groundswell of opposition to IR35, instead there has been near-panic
over some crystal-ball-gazing spin what might happen in a decade's time.

Now who stands to benefit from eyes having being taken off that
particular ball? Answers on a postcard please to ........