Gig economy: now is the time to ease the burden for workers

The Taylor review of employment practices, set up by Theresa May, is due to be published. It must promise radical reform

When Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, was appointed last year by Theresa May to lead a review of modern employment practices, he said it would be "really important to get out and listen to people", as opposed to merely crunching data and numbers.

Let us hope he has listened to some of the same people as Frank Field, the former chair of the work and pensions committee. Field's latest report from the frontline of the gig economy told some depressing, if by now familiar, stories. Workers can be forced into forms of self-employment against their will. Contracts can offer effective wages of less than 2.50 an hour and be enforced with threats of fines or loss of work.