Rishi Sunak speech....

[unhappyclap]

What are people thinking so far?

So maybe you could just get ifff your high horse and realise that self employed people have really been screwed over

I am not on a high horse & I don’t think anyone’s been “screwed over”.

In case you hadn’t noticed we have a global emergency situation. Disaster has struck.

You will be fed, kept warm and housed.

Jobs MUST be protected to prevent an economic disaster a few months away. If they are not, the knock on effect for you, and all of us, will be even greater.

You and your husband opted for self-employment. Your jobs aren’t going anywhere.

People genuinely seem to think that on top of guaranteeing wages (up to £2.5k a month) the government should be paying all business costs for everyone. How?

@BovaryX The employer claims the 80%, not the individual employees. This is a business grant not an individual benefit.

He was excellent. But I don’t get the whinging about 80%. It’s huge.

@LouQoo I also think this is just a temp fix, as soon as they stop paying it to businesses they will let people go. It will take a long time to rebuild lots of industries like pubs etc so for a period of time they won’t need as many staff!

So we have paid a lot of tax and a lot in insurance and yet here we are, shafted

“Shafted” by who? Mother Nature?

All the insurance you paid didn’t cover pandemics. I agree. Neither did all the tax you (we) paid.

@Butterymuffin I'm still going out every day to do all I can to support myself and my family thanks.

I wish I had the luxury of WFH 'under difficult circumstances' but no, still need childcare, still need to go out and hope I don't get this vicious virus and pass it on to my family.

I don't need to accept it, the injustice is happening in my immediate family; attempting to play hardship top trumps whilst getting paid a decent wage and not risking your health for it, whilst others are suffering doesn't paint you in a very good light.

Would it be possible not to turn this into a thread where people are horrible to one another? Obviously some people (me) are shit scared, because we have no income, no protection, no help from the government. I, like other SE posters, am insured against sickness, natural disasters, etc. But not against this. We still have families, bills, etc.

Can't we all just be a bit nicer to one another, and a bit more understanding of one another's situations?

Rent and mortgage holiday for three months

My housing association has told a tenant they expect the rent paid as usual.

@mrswhite I agree & people's mindset/habits will change. Anti bac hand gel will be an shopping essential for one!

@Moochpooch
Those figures for PAYE pay versus self-employed were interesting. You went to some trouble to find those. You are aware that the self-employed figure has to cover (in addition to the usual tax, pension contribution and NI) all holiday pay, sickness pay, periods of no work, insurance and investment/overheads such as tools/vehicle/licences/software/marketing/stock/storage/premises/computer equipment/accountant fees?

no i just googled it.

My dh has been SE before, there are lots of benefits. There's a reason lots of people actively chose SE.

@StillDisappointed You're the one who decided 'everyone else' was doing nothing. Not coming off looking great yourself here! You're the one playing top trumps and imagining no one else has it hard when you have no idea and apparently no concern for anyone else, when there's been plenty of sympathy shown here for SE folk. @Forza14's posts above have been spot on.

and my background is tax/payroll etc

You are aware that the self-employed figure has to cover (in addition to the usual tax, pension contribution and NI) all holiday pay, sickness pay, periods of no work

This is a period of no work. So you’ve already got that covered.

@moochpooch exactly. If you tell people that they can’t go to restaurants, pubs etc and they get used to buying different foods etc it’s going to take a long time to go back to what we knew as normal only a month ago. I watched something on TV earlier in the week that compared it to BC (before christ) and AD time descriptions. Before corona and after corona!!

I wish I had the luxury of WFH 'under difficult circumstances' but no, still need childcare, still need to go out and hope I don't get this vicious virus and pass it on to my family.

tbf there are lots of people in that boat regardless if they are SE or paye

@Butterymuffin any sympathy was lost when you started going on about having to work from home in 'difficult circumstances'

People are losing their jobs, homes, livelihoods because they're not being supported in the same way you are; but somehow you're still managing to feel hard done by?

Forza isn't spot on. Why should the SE just suck it up and go on UC to get £400 a month? Job searching for 35 hours a week and a risk of sanctions if they're ill. Yet you've got up to 80% with no conditions attached? Pffft.
They are in the exact same position as you, they've can't work like you - but somehow you're more deserving of a decent wage then they are?
Nope.

My housing association has told a tenant they expect the rent paid as usual
What are they gonna do?

It will be interesting @MrsWhites. In some ways people may be more hedonistic after being cooped up for so long. Will hobbies be more popular? Increase in remote working more people may consider moving away from cities. Will we turn away from consumerism? I will save more now definitely.

Job searching for 35 hours a week and a risk of sanctions if they're ill

Why would you think this? It’s not job seekers’ allowance.

Future leader for sure.
How bizarre so many people feel the same.
He is the new Tony Blair. Boris may rue the day he moved him up the ranks!!

After restrictions are lifted will the cheap holiday culture be replaced with something a bit more holistic - I for one hope so...

It's the rules for those who're unemployed on UC; which my dad now technically is.

There's no work in London for him, he has zero income.

But he’s self employed, not unemployed, they’re classing it as sickness pay.

Employment has always been more secure than SE and still is with this.

I’ve done both and there are pros and cons to each. I wouldn’t expect to get exactly the same when SE as I know that it’s the riskier option but with other perks.