Conservatives must pay heed to British efforts to kill Uber

Published November 13, 2017 7:06pm ET



Uber users suffered another blow courtesy of big government, Friday, when an English court ruled that Uber drivers are not self-employed but are in fact Uber employees. Concurrent litigation is also proceeding to force Uber to pay Britain’s 20 percent sales tax and the app is technically banned due to a separate issue. If these various efforts succeed, the price of an Uber ride will likely increase by 25-35 percent.

After all, if British Uber drivers are legally defined as employees, Uber will have to pay them a $9.80/hour minimum wage, pay social security taxes, while also providing vacation and sick time. Add the 20 percent sales tax to each ride and the problem quickly becomes clear.

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