Rishi Sunak announces major support package for self-employed amid growing concern during coronavirus outbreak

Rishi Sunak has announced a major support package to help self-employed people during the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at the daily Covid-19 press conference in Downing Street, the Chancellor said the support package for self-employed people would cover 80% of average earnings over the past three years.

He said: “To support those who work for themselves, today I am announcing a new self-employed income support scheme.

“The Government will pay self-employed people who have been adversely affected by the coronavirus a taxable grant worth 80 per cent of their average monthly profits over the last three years."

Mr Sunak addressed the self-employed to insist they have not been forgotten, insisting “we are all in this together”.

He said the scheme would pay up to £2,500 a month and would be available "no later" than the beginning of June.

It is open to anyone with trading profits of up to £50,000 and will be only available to those who make the majority of their income from self-employment so only the “genuinely self-employed” benefit.

“To minimise fraud, only those who are already in self-employment who have a tax return for 2019 will be able to apply,” Mr Sunak said.

“95 per cent of people who are majority self-employed will benefit from this scheme. HMRC are working on this urgently and expect people to be able to access this no later from the beginning of June.”

Mr Sunak said the scheme would be open to people across the UK for at least three months and will be extended if necessary​.

Those eligible will be contacted by HMRC and the money will be paid into their bank accounts, he said.

However, the Chancellor faced a backlash from MPs over the possibility of the first payment coming in June.

SNP MP Amy Callaghan tweeted: “Waiting until June for self-employed people to get support is unfathomable. My constituents are struggling now. Simply not good enough.”

Stephen Flynn from the SNP added: "What on earth are they doing. My consituents simply cannot wait until June. They need help, now."

Several other opposition MPs expressed dismay that self-employed workers could have to wait until June to claim.

Labour MP David Lammy tweeted: “Leaving the five million self-employed Brits without any support until June is a slap in the face.

"Many will be bankrupt by then. And why is there an eligibility cap for the self-employed but not the employed?”

Liberal Democrat MP and leadership candidate Layla Moran posted: “80% grant for the self-employed is welcome. But waiting until June does not give self-employed parity with those in employment.”

Mr Sunak said that, for people who are struggling, self-employed people can access business interruption loans, and self-assessment income tax payments can be deferred until the end of January.

The Chancellor also said that people who are self-employed can now access Universal Credit in full to help them during the pandemic.

Speaking at the remote press conference, he said some self-employed could have to accept changes to their tax breaks as a result of receiving state support to help them through.

“I must be honest and point out that in devising this scheme in response to many calls for support, it is now much harder to justify the inconsistent contributions between people of different employment statuses,” he said.

“If we all want to benefit equally from state support, we must all pay in equally in future.”

He signed off the press conference: “By any international standards, the package we’ve outlined today represents one of the most generous and comprehensive ways to support those in self-employment anywhere in the world.

“I would conclude by saying this: to all those who are self-employed, who are rightly anxious and worried about the next few months, you haven’t been forgotten, we will not leave you behind and we are all in this together.”

In other key developments:

Meanwhile, the deputy chief medical officer defended not ordering coronavirus tests earlier at Thursday's press conference.

Dr Jenny Harries said: “I think what the public will recognise is this is a brand new event, it’s a pandemic and every single country is ordering at the same time.

“So I think this is not an issue of a lack of forethought in planning, it’s an unprecedented event.

“And it is a brand new virus so even to understand how you might test it you have to have the virus and understand a little bit about if before you can start.”

It comes as NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said 660,680 people have now signed up to volunteer to help the vulnerable get through the pandemic.

“The response we are seeing from the public to join us in our country’s greatest time of need is extraordinary, and on behalf of everyone working in the NHS, I would like to thank each and every person who has signed up to volunteer – you will be, without a shadow of a doubt, helping us to save lives,” he said.

“These are uncertain times for all of us, but they have shown the kindness of our country, and have highlight once again just how much people value the health service and every single person working in it.​"