Yorkshire MPs call on Government to support workers who have 'fallen through the gaps'

Speaking to a cross-party group of MPs yesterday (Dec 8), Mr Jarvis, who is also the Labour MP for Barnsley Central, said self-employed workers, freelancers, and small businesses needed help to thrive as part of the recovery from coronavirus.

A recent report from think tank the Resolution Foundation found 2.9m people, or 10 per cent of the workforce, across the UK are still ineligible for support.

But the Prime Minister has insisted the Government’s support package “compares favourably” with other countries.

But Mr Jarvis said: “We’ve heard how the coronavirus does not discriminate, but in the North of England, we know that this is not true. The health and economic impact of this virus has been felt with more ferocity in the North than the South.

“No one expected the Government to get exactly the right financial packages of support for everyone back in March, and it’s true to say that the Treasury has not sat by during this crisis. However, nine months on, there are still significant gaps in the financial support and for the Government to have not plugged these, is not acceptable.”

Leading the session was Batley and Spen Labour MP Tracy Brabin, who is hoping to be selected as Labour’s candidate for West Yorkshire mayor later this week.

She said: “It’s incredible that we are approaching the end of the year, having had two national lockdowns, and the Government is still yet to plug these gaps in support.

“The situation is getting increasingly desperate. From freelancers and the newly self-employed to those who have been unlawfully denied furlough, there are a lot of people in Yorkshire who will struggle to put food on the table this Christmas.

“This is not simply about money. There are problems the Government could quickly fix, such as cash for PAYE freelancers whose PAYE submissions are already stored on HMRC’s systems.

“This issue has been ignored for too long. The Government must now act on its promise to do ‘whatever it takes’, rather than abandon those who need their support most.”

Previously, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has acknowledged that not everyone has access to support schemes, but he has pointed to the vast numbers of projects in place.

And during Prime Minister’s Questions last week Boris Johnson said “I must repeat this for self-employed people across the country, and I know there are hard-to-reach people, but they are also supported with the increases in Universal Credit and the many other means of support that are currently on offer."