I was interviewed on the BBC 6 O’clock news to talk about the lack of provision by government for the self employed. Obviously it was a short segment and as well as the points that made the edit I also raised the need for a rent freeze to match the supposed mortgage freeze, a deferment of the looming HMRC tax deadline and a drastic simplification of the Universal Credit application process.
Since then the government have announced deferring the tax deadline and also provided PAYE employees of companies 80% of their wages.
This at time of writing leaves self employed people able to claim up to £94/week in Universal Credit. This disparity is huge and should not exist. Self employed people need the same support as employees (and these provisions do not go far enough either).
BBC News Interview / COVID-19
