Conservative leader William Hague has formally committed his party to a reform of the IR35 legislation if it wins the next election.

In his draft election manifesto, Believing in Britain, launched this week, Hague said his party would look at "reforming the tax", which he claimed has led to a "brain drain" with contractors leaving this country to avoid it.

However, his pledge falls short of earlier promises from his party to scrap IR35 altogether. In November last year, then shadow Chancellor Francis Maude said the Conservative party would reverse IR35 if it won the next election.

Susie Hughes, spokeswoman for the Professional Contractors' Group, gave the announcement a cautious welcome. "We hope this is a real commitment from the opposition," she said.

Hague claimed his manifesto sets out "a comprehensive package of specific policies to help IT industries flourish in our country".

First published in Computing