Following the Chancellor’s refusal on Monday to announce financial support those groups excluded from Government schemes during the Coronavirus pandemic, Imran Hussain MP has written to the Prime Minister urging him to keep the promise he made to him last Wednesday.

The Prime Minister made the promise to Imran on Wednesday 06 January, telling Parliament in response to Imran’s demand for greater support for those excluded that he would of course “listen to the calls of Excluded UK”, the campaign group representing those 3 million self-employed workers who have been shut out of Government schemes during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Yet despite the Prime Minister’s promise to listen to their calls, just five days later, the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a statement in Parliament in which he offered no further support and refused to extend existing schemes to those that have been excluded, with Imran stating that the Chancellor had broken the Prime Minister’s and the Government’s promise to listen to those who have been excluded.

Imran has now written to the Prime Minister in which he has stated that the promise made to him to listen last Wednesday offered great encouragement and gave many hope, only for these hopes to be dashed, and has urged the Prime Minister to make good on his promise and prove that he will listen by meeting him along with representatives of those who have been excluded as a soon as possible.

Speaking on his call to the Prime Minister to listen to groups excluded from financial support, Imran said:

“Last week the Prime Minister promised me in Parliament that he would, of course, listen to the calls of those who have been excluded from financial support during the pandemic and those representing them such as Excluded UK, and many were therefore extremely hopeful that the Chancellor would announce an extension of support schemes to ensure that they were covered.

“However, when he appeared in the Commons just five days after the Prime Minister to make a statement on Government support, the Chancellor announced nothing, and so despite his warm words, the Prime Minister and his Government appear not to have listened or paid attention at all to the plight of those who have been excluded.

“In places like Bradford where we already have a high number of people trying to get by on low incomes and many businesses in sectors been affected by the Government’s lockdowns, this exclusion from support has hit especially hard and has undoubtedly aggravated poverty and deprivation across the District. The Prime Minister must therefore make good on his promise and meet with me and Excluded UK urgently.”