AN army of five million strivers is calling for a coronavirus cash lifeline to save them from going bust.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak was warned the economy faces a “fatal seizure” if the self-employed are left financially stranded.
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Trades including bricklayers, plumbers and creative industries will be struck by immense hardship if no urgent action is taken.
The wages of employees who face the sack will be underwritten by the Treasury – but contractors and freelancers face ruin.
Eighty per cent of salaries, up to £2,500 a month, will be met by the state but the scheme must be extended, critics have said.
Former Cabinet Minister David Davis blasted Ministers saying it was vital that financial salvation was extended in the coming days.
He said: “It is absolutely necessary. Without this the whole of the British economy will have a seizure – almost a fatal seizure in economic terms.
“It is great for those who have got jobs but it does miss out a pretty important sector of the economy – namely the self-employed.”
He added that Mr Sunak “is going to have to find a way of replicating this for the self-employed as well”.
The government also faced criticism from trade bodies arguing schemes need to be bolstered as the country fought the COVID-19 outbreak.
Mike Cherry, National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Millions of self-employed strivers – including plumbers, electricians and brickies – should not be hung out to dry.
“Many of them are seeing the businesses they’ve worked so hard to build fall away.
“While employees are being guaranteed 80 per cent of income, five million self-employed are being offered next to nothing.
“We are engaged in a collective national effort. The self-employed should not be singled out as second-class citizens.”
Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said: “The UK’s brickies, carpenters, electricians and plumbers will be scared that if they are officially self employed they will not be protected by the government’s scheme.”
However, Treasury Minister Steve Barclay said the government were focusing on measures that could be enacted quickly.
The self-employed will be able to defer self-assessment tax payments and will be able to apply for Universal Credit to receive statutory sick pay worth £94 per week.
Mr Sunak said there would be “no limit” to what the government was prepared to spend to stop mass unemployment.
He has also announced a £330 billion loans package to shore up business through the coming months.
