Tewkesbury Labour Party is highlighting the dire straits of those people for whom the government’s Covid-19 support packages do not apply. And there are nearly three million of them.
West England Bylines supports this action. Here are some extracts from their 19 November 2020 press release.
The plight of the nearly three million people who have been excluded from ALL of Rishi Sunak’s economic support packages has become increasingly well publicised. Organisations such as ExcludedUK, ForgottenPAYE, ForgottenLtd and NewStarterJustice have been at the forefront of campaigns to highlight the plight of the Self Employed, PAYE new starters and small business Company Directors, all left to fend for themselves financially by this Government.
The Chancellor’s and the Prime Minister’s stubborn refusal to help everyone in need is breaking businesses and ruining lives. The economic consequences of this policy failure will lead to a long and painful route out of recession for the country.
The Labour Party is calling on the Government to ensure everyone in the UK receives the financial support they need to support them through the pandemic crisis. Sir Keir Starmer highlighted the need for Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson to amend their support packages, and to close the gaps, in Prime Minister’s Questions on November 11th
… [we] release this short (4 minute) film telling the story of one of our residents, Hayley Smith, directed by Tewkesbury filmmaker, Jim Harrison.
During the first wave of the pandemic, Hayley received zero pay and zero financial support from the Government and will live with the financial consequences of this exclusion for many years to come. There is nothing unique about Hayley’s story, quite the opposite, and there will be thousands of people like Hayley throughout Gloucestershire.
[We] support Hayley Smith in calling on Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to:
- Acknowledge that 3 million people have been left unsupported during this crisis
- To provide backdated financial support to ALL the ‘Excluded UK’
- To ensure any future support schemes include all working families in the UK
[The] film was launched on Monday, 23 November. Hayley is available for interviews and quotes.
Hayley is not a member of the Labour Party and it is only through her campaigning in support of the ExcludedUK and New Starter Justice campaigns on social media that we have grown a relationship.
The government needs to realise that these people so far excluded from existing schemes must be supported in future packages.
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Ed: More information about the many campaigns can be found from links above.
You can contact Hayley directly on 07715 300291 or hayleychrissmith@icloud.com
and filmmaker, Jim Harrison, on JimHarrison.film@gmail.com.
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