After writing my first post, I had time to think about the last year.

The redundancy, the time out of work, what I had been trying to achieve: Chasing the safe option, working for someone else.
It is what my parents would have wanted me to do and when they were alive the social contract between an employer and a worker was largely real.
But, of course, that is in many/most  industries simply no longer true.
The fact is, the content of my first post told me I already knew but I was unwilling to accept it.

Was it really what I wanted in any case? Being someone’s employee certainly simplifies administration. Taxes and levies are the employer’s responsibility. And it is the only way of working I have known up to now.
Though the final thing that held me back was fear: of the unknowns of self-employment, what will others think or say? will anyone hire me? will I be good enough? The last two are, of course very important practical considerations, to be dealt with.

I’ve finally reached a place where those fears, while real enough, do not define me or what I do. I am already defined, on my terms. There will be some who can not cope with that.
Too bad.
If you deliberately stand in my way, you may get stood on. Perhaps I could start a trend.