My email to the Chancellor of the Exchequer

There is a massive hole in the UK’s support to businesses. I have attached a pdf summary of the support that is available, as prepared by a highly reputable firm of accountants.  Clear Accountancy HMRC Flowchart

Two thirds across is a white box saying ‘Nothing at present’. It looks like a small box, but I reckon it represents something like 5 million businesses, those small businesses that form the bread and butter of the economy, the electrician, builder, gas fitter, plumber, etc – the people who the Tories used to want to see go out into the real world, leaving Schedule E employment, and doing it on their own.

By omitting these people from government help you are sending out a very loud and clear message to everyone that the UK doesn’t care about small businesses, it doesn’t care about the normal bloke on the street who has a dream to make it on his own, and that is a message that will reverberate for a good many years to come, well into the long term. You’ll kill off the entrepreneurial spirit. Rishi, your statement that you can’t support everyone is one that will come back to haunt you and this country for generations to come, because that ‘everyone’ is in these cases the lifeblood of the economy and total a good many millions, it’s a very large number indeed.

What I don’t understand, and I’d like to hear your comments on this, is why the government sees fit to support students through the student loan system to the extent of £40,000 each even if they are taking some Mickey Mouse, pretty futile, course that leads nowhere, does nothing to put anything back into this country or generate wealth for it, but won’t adopt a similar system supporting people who are very important to the country, have and could still massively contribute to its wealth, and who desperately need help now.

Paul Brindley 16 April 2020