BBC Sunak interview

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Who on earth decided it would be a good idea to interview the Chancellor in an environment where there is deafening background noise.

He was struggling to hear Naga. It was silly to arrange a interview in such a noisy environment!
I feel for the man who is self employed and has zero to live on , although I missed his interview. All of the measures the chancellor has brought in will not help him it seems although I'm not sure why. I have read threads on here that the self employed have been left out of any financial help which does feel very unfair, but I'm not aware of the rules or if there is anything he could claim. It's all very well admitting you can't help everyone and leaving it there! What are people meant to do? A family member has to live on savings as her husband can't claim anything , so I know that there are people falling through the cracks.
I'm sure there will be more losers than winners. It all feels a bit lopsided despite all the pledges of money for this and that.

The interview with Mark was heartbreaking. He seemed completely defeated.

I dont quite know why the interviewers always seem to be so aggressive and think its great to interrupt and talk over these people try to score daft points
Naga who comes across as a decent person was asking for an acceptable figure of unemployment from Mr Sunak who was never going to give her that so why try and score that goal

The chap in the interview was a good example of people who have fallen through the net and deserve more help

@billysboy

I dont quite know why the interviewers always seem to be so aggressive and think its great to interrupt and talk over these people try to score daft points Naga who comes across as a decent person was asking for an acceptable figure of unemployment from Mr Sunak who was never going to give her that so why try and score that goal

The chap in the interview was a good example of people who have fallen through the net and deserve more help

He’s probably ineligible because he’s taking a lot of his income in dividends. A lot of self employed contribute very little tax.

The self employed and how they pay taxes is a mystery to me I'm afraid. I've heard a few people saying they are a ' limited company' and it seems its these that can't claim for any financial help from the government from what I can gather? I know it has been mentioned on Mumsnet too but what they do pay or not I've no idea. Was this the case for Mark who was interviewed this morning?
How come some people can receive money ?
It must be very complex and extremely worrying.

@The80sweregreat

The self employed and how they pay taxes is a mystery to me I'm afraid. I've heard a few people saying they are a ' limited company' and it seems its these that can't claim for any financial help from the government from what I can gather? I know it has been mentioned on Mumsnet too but what they do pay or not I've no idea. Was this the case for Mark who was interviewed this morning? How come some people can receive money ? It must be very complex and extremely worrying.

i think a lot pay themselves end of year and not through PAYE, take tax minimising dividends etc instead of salary. Directors often take very small salaries and pay themselves dividends if the company makes profit. It’s hard for the government to assess where dividends are taken as income.You also have to have traded through 2019/2020 to qualify. There has been massive (legal) tax advantages to doing this. The downside if you don’t qualify for tax payer assistance. I don’t have a huge amount of sympathy really and am amazed people have been allowed to avoid the tax the rest of us mugs on PAYE have had to pay.

I'm not sure if the man they interviewed this morning was a limited company but he obviously doesn't qualify for any financial help towards his bills and the chancellor did admit that the government can't help everyone , which still strikes me as unfair as presumably they do pay taxes at some point still and the fact they can't work just now isn't really their fault at all!
It feels wrong , but as I've pointed out I not aware of how these different systems work for the self employed or anyone that runs a company etc.

I missed what this gentleman said he did but my husband was sure he said he was a curtain fitter? and thought he was only recently self employed? So would have fallen outside of all schemes other than claiming UC.

Of course it might not be the same where he lives, but round here there has been a very steady call for DIY help, for handymen for people to put up shelves etc, all tasks a curtain fitter could do. I do agree for some there is going to be difficulty to take on new, different work esp if lone parent and children are not at school, but round here there seems to be a steady offering on FB on the local pages on 'advertise your business' day of people being resourceful, not relying on the government and adapting to where the money is by doing different things eg we sold hundreds of tomato & pepper plants at the gate and could have sold thousands more, the hairdresser buying plants from the plant wholesaler and offering a delivery service for those plants before the garden centres opened - she was sold out every week, the carpet fitter turned into artificial grass supplier & fitter and also asked for help with wall building/landscaping/plant help so has obviously got very busy doing whole gardens and I wouldn't be sure he's going back to plain old carpet! The wedding dressmaker has released a line of very nice modern home textiles in conjunction with a local artist - they had fabric printed, offcuts are now masks, Etc.

There are a lot of people that haven't sat on their backsides waiting for a handout but thought outside of the box and got the money they need in.

I'm sure that many people have changed their working models and done different things, but this may only bring in a tiny amount compared to their actual job or not be a long term option for them going forwards. Maybe opportunities are just not there in the fields they work in?
I wished I'd seen the actual interview the man gave before the chancellor spoke. I wonder if anyone asked him about this ?
I know the self employed have to take risks and their incomes are not guaranteed etc but it still feels unfair that 5 percent of the population are not going to receive any help at all.