Why Rachel Reeves is right to focus on 'innocent victims' of loan charge scandal: Greg Wright

She highlighted the fact that Labour had called on the Government to hold an independent inquiry into the loan charge.

She added: “Let’s put the pressure on the Government to do this now because with a lot of these things, it’s the Government just pushing things into the long grass, and we must encourage them to act because many people like Doug (the caller affected by the loan charge) have waited too long for this fair treatment.”

There is, of-course, absolutely no sign of the Government responding positively to calls from MPs of all parties for a “fair resolution and a full independent investigation” into the loan charge. Treasury minister Nigel Huddleston said there was no case for another review into the charge because “the Government has already taken action”.

He added: “I do want to provide the House and anybody listening with the reassurance that the best thing to do if they’ve got concerns is engage with HMRC, because very generous and long-term plans can be put in place to help people repay.”

The Minister’s response has baffled a locum physio from Yorkshire, whose life has been turned upside down by the loan charge. The man said he had been “significantly impacted by this awful retrospective tax policy”, between 2016 and 2019. At the time, he had decided to leave full-time employment within the NHS as a senior physio and worked as a locum by sub-contracting into the NHS on short-term contracts.

He added: “When the IR35 (tax policy) changes then came into place within the public sector, I was then forced to sub-contract into the private sector, with private rehabilitation and occupational health companies, as well as private clinical practice.”

All the while, he said he was being “grossly misinformed and ill-advised” by a scheme promoter and an accountancy firm. He found himself facing a substantial bill due to the loan charge, which was designed to tackle tax avoidance schemes where individuals receive income in the form of loans that are not repaid to avoid income tax

The man added: “I was in a very dark place during the pandemic having been aggressively chased by HMRC with innumerable brown letters landing on the doormat. It has been a hideous experience.” After settling with HMRC, he despairs of ever getting on the property ladder, and describes himself as “a millennial truly caught in the rental trap as well as the loan charge scandal”.

He told me he has struggled with anxiety attacks and “night terrors” which he states is due to the psychological toll of the loan charge. For those affected, an independent review cannot arrive quickly enough.

Greg Wright is the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post