Labour’s Shadow Chancellor and members of the
Parliamentary have challenged the Chancellor
over “significant gaps” in the Coronavirus compensation scheme: a
lack of support for the self-employed and his failure to raise the
level of sick pay. The MPs urge the Chancellor to develop new
proposals to address these issues, so that no one is forced to
choose between health and hardship.
In a letter to , they wrote:
“First, your proposal for income support through the jobs
retention scheme does not include the self-employed and
freelancers, whose income are now increasingly being seriously
affected by the Coronavirus outbreak.”
“Second, you have failed to raise the level of statutory sick pay
currently at £94.25 a week. Clearly, as the Secretary of State
for Health confirmed when questioned this week, this is not an
income level that anyone can live on.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
[Full text of letter]
Dear Chancellor,
We welcomed much of your statement on Friday 20th March 2020
setting out plans to support the incomes of workers impacted by
the Coronavirus outbreak.
However there are two significant gaps in the provisions you have
advanced.
First, your proposal for income support through the jobs
retention scheme does not include the self employed and
freelancers, whose income are now increasingly being seriously
affected by the Coronavirus outbreak.
Second, you have failed to raise the level of statutory sick pay
currently at £94.25 a week. Clearly, as the Secretary of State
for Health confirmed when questioned this week, this is not an
income level that anyone can live on.
We would urge that you think again about these two issues and
bring to Parliament next week firm proposals to address our
concerns.
Yours,
MP
MP
MP
MP
MP
Stella Creasey MP
MP
MP
MP
Lord
MP
Steven Morgan MP
MP
Cristina Rees MP
Virenda Sharma MP
MP
MP
MP
MP
Mohammed Yasin MP
David Zeichner MP
