We won’t give up on this injustice – message from ExcludedUK and Bectu webinar
The government must change tack and provide financial support for millions of desperate self-employed and freelancers who have no safety net during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Top, Philippa Childs and Sonali Joshi; below, Jamies Stone MP and Tracy Brabin MP at the Bectu/ExcludedUK webinar
This was the message from a webinar held jointly between Bectu and Excluded UK on Wednesday (21 July).
Speakers and participants agreed that such support would be tantamount to “paying it forward”, with the alternative of mass unemployment and widespread mental ill health ultimately costing more.
The guest speakers were Tracy Brabin MP, shadow cultural industries minister; Sonali Joshi, ExcludedUK; and Jamie Stone MP, who has set up the ExcludedUK all party parliamentary group (APPG), of which Brabin is a member.
In opening, head of Bectu Philippa Childs said it is a desperate time for those without support.
The union has expended huge time and energy in lobbying the government and has offered workable solutions to Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Treasury officials, she said. It is hugely disappointing that the government has failed to recognise the problems facing the many categories of excluded freelancers and self-employed people.
But Childs stressed: “None of us has given up on our arguments because we recognise it is fundamentally unfair that people who have paid their taxes have had absolutely no support during this period.”
Pain and anguish
Labour’s Tracy Brabin MP said the APPG had been formed “in response to the overwhelming cries of pain and anguish from so many freelancers and self-employed who really felt abandoned by the government”.
It now has 242 MPs, representing 37% of the whole House of Commons across all the parties.
“Hundreds of thousands of people around the country who have paid their taxes have been left out of any scheme,” said Brabin. “My concern is the impact on their mental health, rising debt and the sense that the government isn’t listening.”
The government’s reasons for excluding these groups were unacceptable, said Brabin and the alternatives, such as Universal Credit, unworkable for many.
“We are at a crisis. We have a letter going in on Friday from MPs in the APPG to ask Rishi Sunak to speak to us. It includes very powerful and moving testimonies from those affected.
“Those missing out are completely abandoned, with no safety net at all.”
Brabin stressed the need to keep the pressure going during the parliamentary recess, as come September even more people would be facing job losses.
Uphill struggle
Sonali Joshi founded Excluded UK in May with two other small business owners. She herself runs a film festival, distributes films and provides access services like subtitles, audio description, translation.
Joshi said about 30% of ExcludedUK’s members fall within the creative industries. The group faces an “uphill struggle” but will not give up.
“The issue is parity. The schemes are unfair and unjust because they have created huge chasms, with so many people across all walks of life affected.”
One of ExcludedUK’s first tasks had been to analyse data from the Office for National Statistics, HMRC and Department for Business – revealing around three million people are excluded, of whom two million are self-employed.
“We want to amplify the voices of all of those excluded, so we have identified as many categories and sub-categories of excluded as we can and there are so many,” she said. “We want to be an inclusive platform for everyone and a form of support mechanism.”
ExcludedUK’s Facebook group now has 16,500 members and about 11,500 followers on Twitter. While being friendly and inclusive, the group is also a private space where people can share their stories, gain support and talk to others. It also signposts members to other help and information.
It is seeking to bring about change on the political front as well as raising awareness, for example through media exposure.
A key focus is on building resilience for the future so that these things never happen again.
Lightning bolt
Jamie Stone, the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, said his personal background in amateur drama and opera had helped him get a feel for the professional creative industries and “in the UK we have seen a hallmark of absolute quality in the world”.
Realising what was happening to his constituents was “like a bolt of lightning – I thought, ‘you are in real trouble, this is such bad news’”.
The APPG had grown at a rate he didn’t dare hope for, said Stone, and the key to its success was being cross-party, with MPs from different parties alternating to chair meetings.
He hoped the breadth of signatories in Friday’s letter to the Chancellor would achieve a face-to-face meeting. The APPG is also pushing for answers from the Treasury.
Stone highlighted the value of individuals keeping up contact with their MP and seeking face-to-face meetings – a constituent’s right – as well as upping the pressure through social media and emails.
Highlighting the contribution of theatres and other creative industries in local constituencies would help win MPs’ support, he added.