The UK is failing to support IT contractors and other self-employed people, it has been claimed.

Many other countries take a far more positive attitude to people who want to work for themselves, according to the co-founder of international lifestyle magazine Shelter Offshore.

Taxation rules and restricted lending to individuals, combined with a national culture of suspicion towards successful individuals, means that self-employed people in the UK find themselves restricted, said Rhiannon Davies.

She added: "The self-employed pay Class 4 National Insurance contributions, for example, which is effectively a tax on tax.

"People are right in thinking that they can have a better chance of success if they take their business abroad."

Britain's recession has taken an extra 1.2 million people from permanent jobs into self-employment during the last two years, according to the latest research from Kensington.

This means that there are now around five million self-employed people in the UK.