Chancellor urged to speed up self-employed bailout

RISHI SUNAK must “pull out every stop” to bring forward the June deadline for a self-employed bailout, a former Treasury minister has said.

Mel Stride, who chairs the Treasury select committee, said the fact self-employed workers would need to wait until June to receive wage subsidies is of “very significant concern”.

On Thursday, the Chancellor set out a £9 billion rescue package for the selfemployed, with government grants worth up to 80 per cent of their profits if they have been affected by coronavirus. However, the Treasury said the scheme would not be up and running until June. Mr Stride said the Government must “pull out every single possible stop to try and get this money through as quickly as possible”.

Doing this will be a “challenge” and “far more difficult” than the support for employees, he told BBC Radio 4’s

Today programme. Officials are said to be working round the clock to get the system running as soon as possible.

Government sources said time was needed to test the system to prevent fraud, pointing out that HM Revenue & Customs, which will be building the scheme, is also having to design the bailout system for employees from scratch. The Treasury said other assistance for struggling freelancers and self-employed workers was available through the loans system, Universal Credit, VAT and self-assessment payment delays.

However, MPS are calling on the Government to speed up the process. Mark Francois, the Conservative MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, said: “My concern is that it may take three months to get the money and if, for instance, you’re a black cab driver having to effectively pay a hefty mortgage for your new electric taxi, the money may come too late to save you losing your cab. The idea is very good, we just need to try and speed it up.”