Extracts from Business
Statement
(Cardiff West) (Lab): I add my
voice to those of the right hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells
() and my right hon. Friend the
Member for North Durham (Mr Jones) about the self-employed and
freelancers, and I ask the Leader of the House to convey to the
Chancellor the urgent requirement for him to come back to the House
for a statement about them. I also commend to him the report issued
today by the Musicians’ Union, which outlines the
impact that this has had on many people in the creative industries.
Mr Rees-Mogg: The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the issue of
those in the creative industries, who are mainly self-employed
and have been particularly affected because, of course, the
places where they perform have been closed. The Government are
inevitably conscious that when we close places by order and that
has an effect on people’s livelihoods, there is a societal
responsibility. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor is fully
aware of that.
(Sefton Central) (Lab):...My
main point is about the self-employed. My hon. Friend the Member
for Cardiff West () mentioned the statement by the
Musicians Unionwhich makes two specific proposals.
One is for an immediate payment of £400 a week to every
self-employed person, and the second is to use the tax records as
evidence to deliver 80% of long-term income. Will the Leader of the
House make sure those figures are given to the Chancellor?
Mr Rees-Mogg: I accept the point and encourage right hon. and
hon. Members to try to keep 6 feet apart. I think we are doing
pretty well, considering how much we practically sit on each
other’s laps during ordinary sittings of Parliament—this is a
significant and visible improvement on how things used to be. As
the hon. Gentleman has asked me to be the postbox for the
Chancellor, I will of course make sure that those points are
passed on.
(Cardiff South and Penarth)
(Lab/Co-op): May I add my voice to the chorus of those asking for
the Chancellor to bring forward measures on the self-employed?
Every single day that goes by without them means livelihoods
devastated. In particular, the voice of
musicians and from the creative industries is
vital—I draw attention to my declaration of interests as a
supporter of the Musicians’ Union.
Will the Leader of the House urgently arrange a statement on the
situation facing charities? The Chancellor introduced a very
welcome set of measures on the wage subsidy, but charities are
expending large sums of money on providing services, not just on
staff, and they face a £4.3 billion drop in income over the next
12 weeks. Hundreds of Members from eight parties in this House
have signed a letter on that. Will the Leader of the House
urgently arrange a statement, written or otherwise, to clarify
the situation?
Mr Rees-Mogg: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the
plight of charities, which is well known to the Government, and
for the wonderful work that charities are doing to help in these
circumstances.
I hope that right hon. and hon. Members will understand that the
Government are working through a very large number of issues and
doing it in an orderly way. The priority was rightly to give
reassurance to those in employment, so that we did not face mass
redundancies, which was likely, but that does not mean that the
charity sector and the self-employed have been forgotten.
Extract from Second
Reading debate of the Coronavirus Bill
(Sefton Central) (Lab):..I
will focus the remainder of my remarks on the financial measures.
The Bill references sick pay, but 4.7 million self-employed
workers, many of whom have lost their entire work, do not qualify
for sick pay, and the same applies to a further 1 million company
owners. It is essential that the Chancellor brings forward
measures that deliver sick pay, yes, but also a package for our
self-employed workers, as the Musicians Union
has suggested, which means the real living wage. It has suggested
£400 a week initially, and an equivalent 80% figure based on
previous years’ earnings. This is to put the self-employed in a
similar position to the package the Chancellor suggested for
employees on Friday, which I think was a very important step
forward...
(Twickenham) (LD):...I turn
to new clause 13, on statutory self-employment pay. The
Chancellor has rightly stepped in with a far-reaching set of
economic measures to support the millions of people across the
country whose livelihoods and incomes have been decimated by the
pandemic. As many Members from all parts of the House have said,
the 5 million self-employed and freelancers feel that they have
been completely overlooked. With over 11,000 self-employed people
in my constituency I, like many others, have been inundated with
hundreds of emails, from childminders to event organisers, to
tradesmen and women, to musicians and those who
work in the TV industry, begging for action. Many have seen their
incomes dry up overnight, with no prospect of knowing when they
might be able to work again.
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