Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – episode 49
Summary
In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna discuss IR35 through the prism of Eamonn Holmes’ recent contest with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the technology community’s reaction to the government’s new points-based immigration system, and robotic process automation as potentially beneficial to humans, as well as their own feelings about physical robots. Brian shared his dismay at Celtic’s exit from the Europa League at the hands of FC Copenhagen – a self-inflicted defeat that also caused him to miss the final episode of ITV’s Flesh and Blood drama, which featured a stellar cast, including Francesca Annis, Imelda Staunton and Irish actor Stephen Rea. Rea’s fellow countryman Eamonn Holmes has had his difficulties with HMRC, which has declared him a disguised employee of ITV, on This Morning, and not a freelancer, and is demanding about £250,000 in taxes. This cause celebre gives Caroline a fresh way into the story that is largely consuming her professional life, the IR35 reforms that come into effect in April 2020. Clare’s piece in Computer Weekly also says: “While conceding that the new rules may allow skilled tech talent access to the UK job market, Daumantas Dvilinskas, CEO of fintech startup TransferGo, said the ‘principles underpinning the policy’ could cast the UK in a bad light.” Dvilinskas said: “We are asking the world’s best and brightest to prove their worth by arbitrary standards of value set by the British government, based on language skills, academic performance and income.