‘I feel overlooked and not considered’

TOM DINGLEY Self-employed support

Mr Sunak extended help for the self-employed until the end of the summer, but many who fell through the cracks previously found they were still ineligible.

Freelance photographer Tom Dingley, 34, from London, was excluded from income support because he was new to selfemployment.

Almost 600,000 people who became self-employed before the pandemic will now be able to apply for the final income support grants. But Mr Dingley is still left out due to a quirk in the system, after close to a year without help.

“I am still excluded because my earnings from employed work in previous years represented more than 50pc of my income, even though I am now 100pc reliant on freelancing,” he said.

“I’m not able to pay for anything and rely on my partner to pay my share. I have also been forced to borrow money.

“It feels like the Tory Government, which is meant to promote entrepreneurialism, is against self-employment.”