Labour will ban Uber and AirBnB, minister warns as she says Tories are party of 'gig economy'

Labour will ban Uber and AirBnB if they gain control of councils, a minister has warned as she brands the Conservatives the party of the “gig economy”.

Liz Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, writes in the Telegraph about how the Tory party is the true party of young people, as it allows them to innovate in the new economy.

She warns that the Labour Party will ban start-ups such as Uber, Deliveroo and AirBnB, or stifle them with regulation so they fail, pointing to Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan’s battle with Uber in London. This caused the ride-hailing app to lose its license, a decision the company is now appealing.

Transport for London (TfL) criticised the firm's record on reporting criminal offences and carrying out driver background checks.

Labour MP Karen Buck is also pushing for tighter regulations on holiday letting service AirBnB, introducing a 10-minute Rule Bill in the House of Commons to highlight the “dangers” of short-lets. The Bill aims at limiting the number of days in a year a property can be let out for.

She wrote on her website: “I’m all for the ‘sharing economy’ but the sector needs managing and regulating too.”

Ms Truss says she rejects this thinking and writes: “Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have made no secret of their desire to stamp out individualism and enterprise. They call businesses the 'real enemy'. Their supporters hound dissenters and label them “traitors”.

“And they openly call for Government to take more control over the economy and our lives. We can already see their controlling ways in councils across the country: anyone sensible abused until they’re booted out or quit, services like AirBnB and Uber banned, new schemes dreamt up for hiking tax.”

As Labour-held councils in Yorkshire and Wales battle with the ride-hailing app, with some banning it completely, the minister warns this is what would happen across the country if Labour gets in to power.

She explains: “This assault on freedom wouldn’t just damage the economy, it would erode the economic freedoms which give power to the people. The free market is fundamentally humane and democratic, driven by ideas and millions of individual choices about what to do with our money which defy those who benefit from the status quo.”

The Labour Party has criticised Uber in the past, with the shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey last year declaring it is “not morally acceptable” to use the service.

Ms Truss has made her case to young people as Labour attempts to win marginal Tory-held councils in the upcoming local elections. She also welcomes the newspaper’s Refresh campaign, which aims at engaging young people in politics, writing that the initiative will “engage young people and bring energy and urgency to developing radical, free market solutions to big challenges like housing and equality of opportunity.”

Conservative party vice chairman Chris Skidmore MP and Bim Afelomi MP are debating Liz Truss's ideas on how the Tories can win back the youth vote on Chopper's Brexit Podcast, available on iTunes and on the Telegraph's website from 6am on Friday morning.