and there is also i understanding universal credit section on there.n ringing them or go in person? alljob centres are currently open, we have a wealth of support, they will be talking to local community to ensure we have a wraparound service. i would suggest if you cannot access information online, by all means, attend job centres. they can attend them, so you cannot ring a job centre or can you? if you wanted to get further information, there is a helpline number, if it's ok to share, 0800 328 5644, where people can reach us. emily, go ahead with your question. i have to self—isolate for the next 12 weeks, i'm not sure if i'm going to get any ssp. my agency haven't got back to me and i don't have any money whatsoever because i am a supply teacher, so what can i claim if i cannot claim ssp? andy, please help with what level you have to earn before you qualify with statutory sick pay. the government has announced that it will extend some benefits to self—employed people, but not yet a statutory sick pay. but if you are not self employed, you have to ad

he did address universal credit. not enough. the policies not working. universal credit.ies not workinglj universal credit. not enough. the policies not working. i sincerely hope that people will not politicize this issue. as highly political. it's not. there are two different things. the budget, which could have been driven by left or centre. today's budget could have been brandon in many ways, including the way was delivered. but there's a difference. the first bit was all about, what we do in emergencies? in that respect, i don't think it was political but... people were nodding and agreeing, so there was a unified house on that. i don't want the socialist weekly to talk about how eve ryo ne socialist weekly to talk about how everyone got it wrong. that's not what this should be. all these decisions are political! we will discuss further in half an hour. don't forget you can see the front pages online on the bbc‘s website. if you miss the programme you can catch up on the bbc iplayer. we will be back at 11:30 p:m.. bye— bye. good evening. technically we now are into th

so the universal credit system is open, ready to take that.n fact, in the last nine days, we've processed nearly half a million claims. but first: parliament has risen for its easter recess a week earlier than expected due to the coronavirus pandemic. before then, as usual at noon on a wednesday, borisjohnson faced mps‘ for prime minister's questions an extended question time dominated, inevitably, by the coronavirus pandemic and the government's response to it. mps sought answers to questions about help for the self employed and the availability of testing and protective equipment. borisjohnson said help for the self employed would be announced by the chancellor in the next couple of days it's expected on thursday. the prime minister said testing was being increased as quickly as possible and personal protective equipment would be in care homes by the end of this week. he also faced questions about the plight of britons stranded and unable to get home. these british citizens have a right to turn to their own government for help, and how long

speaker, with increase universal credit by 1000 pounds a year. that will benefit for the people, the poor stomach and the country. and yes, we do want to see -- i pretreated by the way, many fantastic work since country not just in the nhs, not just in social care but, of course, in the teaching professions, but in the dwp itself. they're doing an an incredible job. they are facing huge, huge new demands. and yet we will support them and that's why we're putting another seven-point pounds as a said just now, mr. speaker, into our welfare system. >> i do want to appear totally negative, mr. , mr. speaker, but would be better if the whole place would be better step in the first place. but i will take it for what the prime minister said that there's going to be increased in dw staff in order people can access universal credit more quickly. mr. speaker, it's quite right parliament is set to be closed today and it's right that the prime minister and cabinet ministers continue to deliver daily public information sessions and that is absolutely correct.

universal credit isa in total on hold. universal credit is a new service...ned to be claimed online, but those who have done so have experienced problems. queues to verify identities passed 100,000 yesterday, with many giving up. officials at the department for work and pensions told mps this morning there had been 105,000 applications for universal credit yesterday alone. little wonder, they admitted, there had been problems. we have had capacity problems with the verify system and we are working closely with the government digital service and their providers to build incapacity. there are things they are doing to build capacity to change the way the system works and iam hoping change the way the system works and i am hoping that system will see changes and improvements over the coming hours and days. with job centre is now closed due to coronavirus, staff will be redeployed to deal with new claims, pa rt redeployed to deal with new claims, part of the 10,000 additional civil serva nts part of the 10,000 additional civil servants being moved to cope with the

he has research with the five was delayed and universal credit. ensures many families amongst huge red before receiving anything on her trapped in debt for years. 72% of their penance are universal credit and significant rent with half of them technically destitute. the prime minister says rook engine it's the root of poverty only if there are jobs that are full paying permanent and decently paid. when the prime minister going to stop this deliberately policy of inflicting impoverishment and destitution on tenants of the commonwealth and further expect landlords in the northeast? >> mr. speaker i'm happy to speak to the universal credit is available from day one and i speak firmly on my belief. the best way out of poverty is not benefithe but work and it's what we have achieved with this government is record low unemployment and record and wages are now rising. they don't want to hear mr. speaker but the wages are now rising for them as well. >> mr. speaker, last thursday at the dead of night, the prime minister made a secret visit to the hospital

and there is also i understanding universal credit section on there.res are currently open, we have a wealth of support, they will be talking to local community to ensure we have a wraparound service. i would suggest if you cannot access information online, by all means, attend job centres. they can attend them, so you cannot ring a job centre or can you? if you wa nted a job centre or can you? if you wanted to get further information, there is a helpline number, if it's 0k to share, 0800 328 56aa, where people can reach us. emily, go ahead with your question. i have to self—isolate for the next 12 weeks, i'm not sure if i'm going to get any ssp. my agency haven't got back to me and i don't have any money whatsoever because i am a supply teacher, so what can i claim ifi supply teacher, so what can i claim if i cannot claim ssp? andy, please help with what level you have to earn before you qualify with statutory sick pay. the government has announced that it will extend some benefits to self—employed people, but not yet a statutory sick pgy- people, but

to register my identification so you have to party on the universal credit and then the verification of identification and 129 times and all the onus to 0. is 06 all from the government. ought even if you know that the chance like any possibly live online people awake universal credit the only reason i'm climbing is hopefully trying to somehow with my rent. but despite being under fire over help for the self employed chancellor richie sinek has emerged as the bookmakers favorite to be the next prime minister. so not received widespread praise from the business world following his announcement of a 330000000000 pound cash injection to help firms throughout the crisis at 5 to see you he is now the odds on favorite for the top job but in a close 2nd place is top labor leadership candidates star his chances are rated at 3 so one of the chancellor of the duchy of lancaster michael gove and former chancellor sunday javid are toyed with both seeing odds of 20 to one while they believe a ship can do that rebecca long bailey is the outsider with her chances of making it to number 10 rated at

of people maybe millions by the time the repeats of this program is shown are claiming universal credit the phone lines are open and things are going really well for universal credit you call immoral in your new book 8 battling a giants basic income now yes because huge numbers of people love qualified for the universal credit card and the only way they can operate you know that's a credit is in effect a battling universal credit a basic income well if our more transparent far more easy to operate and far more easy to understand ordinary people and their well huge numbers people who fall through the cracks into total destitution are more people in diprivan the longer this current that doris will go on and the worse the consequences of the recession and depression. then why is it that boris johnson donald trump new liberal leaders are saying they're going to put up their arms around us there is no pro carry out anymore the word that you so often used before although some people have been alleging that johnson has been slow to act because people were trying to force his hand with the univ

if you are on universal credit, you are in a 5 week wait before you get benefits. will he be absolutely clear that nobody, nobody will have to choose between health and hardship. it is a matter of public health concern for everybody. our part-time prime minister - failed to turn up on monday, failed to answer a question about the breach of the ministerial code. in his own forward the prime minister wrote there must be no bullying and no harassment, will he commit to an independent investigation into the home secretary's conduct led by next her lawyer when it's findings will be made public. >> there should be an investigation into any allegations and that is what the cabinet office is doing and i remind him since he mentioned the home secretary, keeping this country by putting -- he believes in stopping the early release, bringing in a system to tackle our migration crisis with an australian style base system and he would scrap stop and search. getting rid of security services and wouldn't tackle the immigration system. >> released the findings of investigation into

last night, there we re universal credit.ming, so that money gets where it is needed quickly to those people who have got to feed the kids, got to pay the rent, got to survive somehow? 01:37:35,280 --> 2147483052:25:32,355 perfectly right. that is why it is 2147483052:25:32,355 --> 00:00:03,638 going by £1000 what we are not doing, and this is fully in accordance my question is, this is not a time for levity. .. statutory my question is, this is not a time for levity... statutory sick pay level of £94 25, which the health secretary admitted he couldn't live on, we have not seen action on that. u nless we on, we have not seen action on that. unless we give protection and benefits for those on zero—hours contracts, then the danger is that we are all aware of of people going into work, or trying to work when they shouldn't, is going to continue. we do need very urgent action on this. this is not a time for levity, it is for serious action, and a serious response to the crisis. that is what he has seen from this government. that

universal credit is a new service...those who have done so have also experienced problems. queues to verify their identities passed 100,000 yesterday, with many simply giving up. officials at the department for work and pensions told mps this morning there had been 105,000 applications for universal credit yesterday alone. little wonder, they admitted, there had been problems. we have had capacity problems absolutely with the verify system and we are working closely with the government digital service and their providers to build incapacity. there are things they are doing to build capacity to change the way the system works and i am hoping that system will see changes and improvements over the coming hours. with job centres now closed due to coronavirus, staff will be redeployed to deal with new claims, part of the 10,000 additional civil servants being moved to cope with the surge. forjonathan hume trying to process his claim by a dwp imposed deadline of thursday, it is all very stressful. until it is sorted i have no

universal credit, you have a five-week wait. will he be absolutely clear that nobody, nobody will have to choose between health and hardship because it's a matter of public health concern for everybody. ur part-time prime minister -- fails to turn up on monday draws the question about a breach of the ministerial code. in his own forward to that code, the prime minister wrote there must be no bullying and no harassment. will he commit to an independent investigation into the home sector conduct led by an external lawyer and when its findings will be made public? >> mr. speaker, of course, there is right that there should be an investigation into any allegations of -- [indiscernible] >> i remind him since he mentions the home secretary, she is keeping this country safe by putting police officers and stopping the early release of offenders and bringing in a system to tackle our migration system. he would scrap stop and search. he believes in getting rid of our security services and certainly wouldn't tackle our immigration system,

others will be entitled to help through the existing system, such as universal credit. we are urgently looking at the application process to reflect on the advice on self-isolation. i think that members of the public have appreciated the way that, hitherto, members have come together across the floor of this house to deal with the crisis. i think it would be common ground between us all that we would want to do everything we can to avoid penalizing those who are doing the right thing. jeremy corbyn: the prime minister is not being clear about this. the reality is that, if a person is on universal credit or has just been put on to it, they have a five-week wait before you get any benefits. will he be absolutely clear that nobody -- nobody -- will have to choose between health and hardship, because it is a matter of public health concern for everybody? mr. speaker, our part-time prime failed to turn up on monday to answer questions about a breach of the ministerial code. to that code,ward the prime minister wrote, "there must be no bullying and no harassment." will he now

they have significantly changed the rules in universal credit which will mean that those self—employed well at least get some more help than they otherwise would have done through the benefit system and i think that is welcome at this moment. but of course, the problem is that you don't have the paye system through which to support the self—employed, it is more difficult thanit self—employed, it is more difficult than it is for employees. to be honest, it is quite impressive the government has come up with what it has done this quickly. i'm sure they are thinking about how there can be more for the self—employed so whilst it is disappointing and extraordinarily worrying for those in that position, i think it is understandable that the government has not come up with a comprehensive package yet. my presumption is that they are working on it as we speak. and to idea of a timescale? even if it is complex, if people are running out of cash to pay bills that can be deferred, they will get incredibly stressed? i deferred, they will get incredibly stressed ? i think deferred, they will get in

example your in her position, you're saving to put a deposit on a house, then i'm afraid the universal credit, one of the big changes, actually, in the universal credit syste m actually, in the universal credit system relative to what went before is even less generous when it comes to people who have some money in savings. that's one of the things even though people are told to save some money perhaps to get on the property ladder? you're shaking your head in recognition, perhaps your head in recognition, perhaps you feel that's pretty unfair, josephine? you're trying to do what you think is the responsible thing but then the penalty is you can't access but then the penalty is you can't a ccess a ny but then the penalty is you can't access any benefit in this really extraordinary time. because of that? yes, it's almost like you're being punished for being careful with your money. paul, ijust want to come back to that point making earlier. if you had £49,000 and profits you can if you had £49,000 and profits you ca n a ccess if you had £49,000 and profits you can access this help info. if you

the next few weeks and we have seen that universal credit applications are jammed.ial crisis so therefore we need more urgent resources for the system as soon as possible and to explore what else we can do to support those who are self—employed and freelancers who are not being supported through this scheme. i think your point on universal income, less a £100 a week and you've lost all your earnings that really does not fill the gap. there is housing allowance as well says the chancellor but he says if you are late we are tax return, if you are late we are tax return, if you get it in over the next four weeks, you will be eligible. yes and thatis weeks, you will be eligible. yes and that is definitely welcome and people who have missed out to make sure that they can be included in cove red sure that they can be included in covered and we do walk on the announcement today by the chancellor and the government and how far they have gone to support the employees and the self—employed. many of our members have lost work this week for the next few months and indeed for th

claim universal credit and nine days, whether100,000 a day now.ssfully claim universal credit, it is the means test benefit independently of the income and it also depends on your savings. and your partner's savings if you have a partner. so you may not get it and it's not very much. one system creaking. while the tele— commission systems around the world, we are doing our best with ours. you're holding out fantastically and i would have go, claire and see if we can make contact with you. i would love to read you a question sent to us love to read you a question sent to us by susie. she asked "please can you tell me what help there is for zero hour contract people who live with a partner who is receiving a furloughed 80% wages pay?" hopefully you can hear me. hopefully you can hear melj hopefully you can hear me. i can. the problem with people a there our contract is that technically,... employs you and uses the furlough scheme. and they would count... let me stop you for a second. i am sorry. we are getting one word and five. if we put those when

and we have changed the welfare system so self—employed people can now access universal credit in fulld it the most and, crucially, targeted at those who need it the mostand, crucially, it targeted at those who need it the most and, crucially, it is deliverable. and it provides an unprecedented level of support for self—employed people. as we have developed the scheme, i am grateful for the conversations i have had with the federation of small businesses, the association of independent professionals and the self—employed and a range of trade unions including the trades union congress. but i must be honest and point out that in devising this scheme in response to many calls for support, it is now much harder to justify the inconsistent contributions between people of different employment statuses. if we all want to benefit equally from state support, we must all pay in equally in future. these last ten days have shaken our country and economy as never before. in the last two weeks, we have put aside ideology and orthodoxy to mobilise the full power and resources of the british state. we

we've increase universal credit a thousand pounds a year as he knows. we deferred income tax self assessment for the self-employed until july. we are deferring vat into the next quarter. there's access to government finance loans but their particular complexities about the self-employed, which you need to be addressed. there's also in the same position and all i can say is where working as fast as it possibly can to get the appropriate package of support for everybody in this country and that is what we're going to do and we will get through it together. >> mr. speaker, the prime minister knows we want to work with them on this but there is frustration because they have gone into lockdown and what goes without income? this is an emergency. the truth is the health and economic cost of this virus are -- people deserve strong leadership, financial support and they deserve straight answers. as we stand here, these people are losing their incomes. telling them to wait another day simply isn't good enough. and norway and denmark in weight support has artie be

the universal credit helpline for the past few days.metimes it will drops instantly. sometimes it will drop after you choose the options on the system and the other few times when i've actually got through, i have been on hold for two hours and then my network will cut me off. about six or eight hours total on hold put credit is a new service... is designed to be claimed online but those who have done so have also experienced problems. queues to verify their identity have passed 100,000 with many simply giving up. very welcome. officials at the department for work and pensions told mps this morning there had been 105,000 applications for universal credit yesterday alone and little wonder they admitted there had been problems. we have had capacity problems. we have had capacity problems with the verifying system, working closely with the government digital service and their providers to build capacity. there are things they are doing to build capacity and change the way the system works. i'm hoping that that system will see some changes

almost half a million applications for universal credit we re applications for universal credit were00,000 people were in a telephone queue to register. the universal credit system is open, ready to take that. in fact, in the last days we have processed half—million claims. we do not know if they are self—employed or different stages and i want to ensure people that help, even if it is not currently at the level they would like, is there to help them through the safety net of the welfare state. crossbody criticism over the government's respond on the plight of people stranded abroad and trying to get home. it rings with no answer, e—mails acknowledged but not replied to. embassy closed and stuff flown home days ago. doors shuts. commercialflights flown home days ago. doors shuts. commercial flights not available. trying to transit by countries where there are no layover is permitted. all priced at tens of thousands of prices. last week it was stated we would look to liaise with airline operators to make sure whether gaps we can provide as much support as possible to vulnerable or str

nearly 500,000 people have applied for universal credit since monday of last week. 0n social media, people have been sharing how long they've had to wait on the phone. for those who went online, it was no better. alex found himself at position 103,000 in the queue. when we checked on his progress today, he said he'd finally got into the system at 3am, but missed his slot as he was asleep. recorded message: we are currently experiencing high call volumes. jonathan hume's contract as a research associate ended this month. he's called the universal credit helpline between 80 and 100 times in the past few days. infuriating. and stressful. because until this is sorted, i have no income. there's been no communication from anyone. i think the system's just overwhelmed. the unprecedented demand for benefits suggests a rapid and possibly record rise in unemployment, just as jobcentres have been shut. closing jobcentres was inevitable in the current climate, but it will put more pressure on telephone support and online services. and that, at a time when the system was struggl

there are people out there who need welfare payments, need universal credit or income support.s as quickly as possible. that is easier said than done. the system is swamped, isn't it? this is another one. the question is, i am due to get back from maternity leave and a couple of months. my company is in furlough from today. how i protected in that situation? you should have furlough. the question, really, is how long you have been on maternity leave. whether you did the six months or the full 12 months. because your pay is dependent, really, on what you earn last month in a sense. if you we re earn last month in a sense. if you were on full pay, that is easier. if you took the full 12 months, i suggest you ask to have the last 12 months, an average of the last 12 months, an average of the last 12 months taken, so that you get more than you would have done if they actually took your february earnings, which would be pretty small. it is probably not going to be as much as you would have done had you been doing the full—time work, but it is better than you would have got for the 1

the phone either just universal credit, without success.if you get through, a couple of options on the menu it eventually rings out and hangs up. record 477,000 people have applied for universal credit since monday of last week, creating long delays for applicants. on social media people have been sharing how long they have had to wait on the phone. for those who went online, it was no better. alex found himself in position 103,000 in the queue. we checked on his progress today and he said he finally got into the system at 3am but missed his slot because he was asleep. we are currently experiencing high call volumes. you might prefer to call back later. jonathan hume's contract as a researcher ended this month. he has called the helpline between 80 and 100 times in the past few days. infuriating. stressful. because until this is sorted, i have no income. there has been no communication from anyone. the system is just overwhelmed. communication from anyone. the system isjust overwhelmed. as communication from anyone. the system is just overw

to protect you if the worst happens, to strengthen the safety net, i'm increasing today the universal credit standard allowance for the next 12 months by 1000 pounds a year. for the next 12 months, i'm increasing the working tax credit basic element by the same amount, as well. together, these measures will benefit over 4 million of our most vulnerable households. and i'm strengthening the safety net for self-employed people, too, by suspending the minimum income flaw to anyone affected by the economic impact of coronavirus. that means self-employed people can no access, and full, universal credit at a rate equivalent to statutory sick pay for employees. taken together, i'm announcing nearly 7 billion pounds of extra support through the welfare system to strengthen the safety net and protect people's incomes . and to support the self-employed through the tax system, i'm also announcing today that the next self-assessment payment will be deferred to january, 2021. as well as keeping people in work and supporting those who lose their jobs or work for themselves, our plans for jobs and incomes

universal credit is not enough.is just £5 above statutory sick pay. i can't support my family on that. we have been hearing from rishi sunak, the chancellor, so they're working on something but it is complicated. how many days do you have left before your cash flow runs out? i it for your family? -- how urgent is it? it is urgent. i can't feed my family all the promises from the chancellor. i need certainty, need cash. the money will not last for longer. my partner is on statutory maternity pay. it is already tight. we need financial support no. the treasury is pointing out that if people are struggling and they can access some of the existing support is like universal credit or various tax reliefs and vat reliefs, is that something that you are considering? it is something iam going you are considering? it is something i am going to consider, yes. we only support. all the delivery drivers. it isa support. all the delivery drivers. it is a dire situation that we face now. how far would state benefits as they exist n

it is a loan that will be deducted from your universal credit. a 5% deduction of universal credit.e some more money in their pocket. what we would say is that it is great that business is being looked after but we need to see people going further. in the us and australia they‘ve given $750 to every australian citizen and in the us they are talking about doing that for $1000. sending a cheque for $1000 to each household, that is the discussion at the moment in the us. in terms of people who may end up struggling to pay their rent, what do you want from the government? we wa nt do you want from the government? we want banks, local government and government to show forbearance for people who are getting into trouble, we need compassion, not coming in straightaway with enforcement action and charges and we like to see rental holiday is being put in place. and how much? money in peoples pockets? that is for the government to look at. but in australia and the us they are looking at substantial amounts to get people through. would that be for people on low incomes? we know at the moment t

i really didn't want to go on to universal credit, i would didn't want to go on to universal credit,it, i would have been much worse off and i wanted my children to have a good example of a mother and be in a good example of a mother and be in a job a good example of a mother and be in ajob and in a good example of a mother and be in a job and in a good situation financially. extending this payment to unmarried couples would cost £15 million a year. perhaps it is just too expensive. there is only about 2000 families that are unmarried but lose a partner every year so it is a small fraction and i think they can afford to pay it. i am going to bring in siobhan first. 18 months ago you went to the supreme court and won, they ruled it was incompatible with human rights law that you are not allowed to receive bereavement benefits for your children because of being unmarried. what has changed since then? absolutely nothing unfortunately. nothing has changed at all. what you think the fact that nothing has changed since that ruling? shocking, it really is shocking. highest court in the land

sebastian, i just want to jump or universal credit., i just want to jump in, because we have got time for one more paper, which is the times, sian, you might have guessed. and very briefly, virus prompts number ten to suspend housing markets, other papers saying don't move home. this is a story that the housing market effectively has been suspended by the government tonight because ministers have said two people, "delay moving house", and this is for two reasons. one is if you're moving house, doing the social distancing all meant to be doing is very difficult, so ministers have said estate agents can't come into houses to value them, surveyors can't come into do them, surveyors can't come into do the valuations, effectively you will not be moving house while the lockdown is taking place. the second pa rt lockdown is taking place. the second part of the story is mortgage lenders are putting their packages... a lot of the mortgage packages... a lot of the mortgage packages were on the market are no longer available. i'm so sorry. do not

now and claim universal credit now and claim universal credit now and claim universal credit saying it is a lot less than the up to two and half grant the people with salaried staff, regular jobs, going to be guaranteed for. right, fergus, sage update. well, we have been waiting for this all week. sage, the scientific advisory group for emergencies, headed by patrick balance and the cmo chris whitty... i love the way you are holding your arms out in a sort of slightlyjesus welcoming way. well, it isjust. .. by welcoming way. well, it isjust. .. by other staff that... welcoming way. well, it isjust. .. by other staff that. .. i find this a very interesting because this is the stuff, and i have only got a few pages here, there are loads, loads and loads of reports and this is what everything is based on, this is why, you know, the lives of 66 million people have been turned upside down. it is based on the advice in here. and really, some extraordinary detail because you will remember only 24 hours ago borisjohnson said 12 will remember only 24 hours ago boris johnson said 12 we

, thatis tested out, but universal credit, that is lower per week and the sick pay amounts andh time for self-employment. they say they rented to us that he make domestic and commercial and advice is slim. we are in a position to manage and infection control but many businesses do not have necessary training. this is utterly crucial for everyone, necessary training. this is utterly crucialfor everyone, isn't necessary training. this is utterly crucial for everyone, isn't it? necessary training. this is utterly crucialfor everyone, isn't it? this industry is health. grease the wheels the economy and often do not really see that they're there, but there are huge number now many percentages of the workforce in particular, one of the things we are really going to be pressing the government for some more detailed guidance for companies and for businesses that use self—employed workers to make sure the guidance being given to them about things and making contingency plans as simplistic as fundamentally, it is different if you're a full—time employee and forced into a locked in situat

so there are claiming universal credit. so there a re clear claiming universal credit.tors will be closed down, to guarantee them some proportion of their income so that they can carry on having a decent income coming into the house. and norman, just as you are talking, we are getting lines coming in from the bank of england, which is holding its midday news conference, and talking about the economic shock being big but temporary, talking about the depreciation of sterling, and keeping its interest rate, its key interest rate, at a record low of 0.1%. it has got a difficult role right now, as does the government? genuinely there doesn't seem to me to be much more the bank of england can do now in terms of monetary policy. interest rates have never been this low before, and anyway interest rates are not the solution here. the difficulty is mainly sustaining demand, and that means getting cash into people's pockets. i guess what is encouraging from the bank bring a's perspective is that they do believe this is a temporary hit, in other words the hope is that companies can

, but as we know, universal credit, but as we know, universal credit is very controversial andlack of detail —— mr corbyn might want to pick up on the lack of detail in the prime minister's approach. also in terms of the nhs in care homes, and more broadly on the treasury and what happens to companies who suddenly face a loss of workers, bearing in mind that there is an estimate of about a fifth of employees being off sick. what happens to companies who are struggling to keep going? an awful lot of unanswered questions, and given the scale of disquiet, my best guess, and it is a guess, is that mr corbyn may well choose to honein that mr corbyn may well choose to hone in on that. it should be... oh, we have a few minutes. i thought it was midday already, we have plenty of time! they are so snappy these days, coming straight in at midday. what are the issues? it's really dwarfing everything, isn't it? next week we have a budget, brexit negotiations continue. it has bin and extraordinarily packed week. we had that big x controversy about heathrow, and is the idea that boris johnso

there is just people who are self—employed on universal credit. so people such as the self—employed qualify. liabilities so people such as the self-employed qualify. the resolution foundation has said even before coronavirus the economy but mcgrath was not looking good. the measures now will cost every household nearly £600 a year, they predict. business rate holidays have happened for certain organisations and people who work in hospitality, venue owners, and people who work in hospitality, venue owners, galleries, cinemas, their rates will be suspended for a year but what about other businesses? nurseries can expect to ta ke businesses? nurseries can expect to take a hit through coronavirus and they are furious and not included in that group. i was hoping for an extension of the business rate relief and i was really, really hoping but they didn't. because we operate in quite large buildings, it seems like a disproportionate percentage of expenditure and if we we re percentage of expenditure and if we were forced to close event temporarily, we wo

the universal credit system is open, ready to take that.ocessed nearly 500,000 claims. we do not know if they are self—employed or different stages, and i want to assure people that help, even if it is not currently the level that they would like, is there to help them through the safety net of the welfare state. the foreign secretary faced scathing cross—party criticism over the government's response on the plight of britons stranded abroad by the crisis and trying to get home. an mps helpline that rings with no answer, e—mails acknowledged but not replied to, embassy that are closed and staff flown home days ago, doors shuts shut to our travellers. guidance issued by the foreign office yesterday advising british tourists to return to the uk where commercial flights are available. but they are not available. they are either banned entirely, trying to transit via countries where there are no layovers permitted, or priced at tens of thousands of pounds, and via airports expected to close imminently. what help exactly is my right honourable f

, there are going to bea universal credit, there are going to be a lot of imponderables here andpe this will land and help them, but i suspect they might be waiting for godot. i would not be as downbeat. i do not disagree with it but i am not too sure whether it is waiting for godot. we get the cash going now, is it going to hit these places? because execution is all and the problem with governments as they can get the headline but getting it to make a different down the fare is incredibly difficult and that is not about party it is about delivering civil service. —— there. about party it is about delivering civil service. -- there. ithink about party it is about delivering civil service. -- there. i think the reserve fund but it is difficult to... the level of cladding... £1 billion. given the celtic nation and that they have the discretion on how to spend it. the times has got... i ama to spend it. the times has got... i am a keen on this one. this is a newspaper review. the optics are very important. if you look at the picture, it is a conflation of the beatles abbey road, the

and they have made some changes to the welfare system around universal credit, which they should haveothing like as generous. employed people as it is for employees. and what are you hearing from your members? what are they going through right now? there is pandemonium. people have seen their incomes are falling off a cliff. it has just gone overnight from having some income, to not. projects are being cancelled, contracts are being cancelled and because they are self—employed, they don't have the same protection of income that employees enjoy. that is the thing about the self—employed, there are a flexible resource for businesses. it has always been possible for businesses to pick them up possible for businesses to pick them up and drop them, but overnight wholescale, self—employed people have been dropped and their incomes stopped. we have done a petition on this. if people go to our website we have already got over 20,000 signatures for the temporary income protection fund for the self—employed, so please do go on there. we will keep trying to pressurise the government. in terms of

it could be easier for you to try to get universal credit, but of course, it isa universal credit, butmplicated thing to apply for, but there are restrictions if you are self—employed on your level of income prior to your claim. those have been lifted so it is something you could look at. is that reassuring in some way? yes, i think so. reassuring in some way? yes, i think so. it is really difficult because obviously, we can't predict what our earnings are going to be each week so earnings are going to be each week so for us to work out what we would normally earn is a bit difficult so it might be a bit easier for people in other professions. have you noticed there is a reluctance to book evil gigs, that people are going out less? not so much yet. i think there is a general anxiety about whether festivals will continue this summer and things like that and obviously, we were planning to go to europe, perhaps in september and play some shows there but we have got a lot of friends who are touring their and who are not going to go. there have been cancellations there so that is a concern f

would certainly say that the economy is doing fine but in fairness to boris johnson obviously universal credit was accepted by the electorate at the election the abolition of it which was proposed by the labor party was rejected at the ballot box if you were advising the shadow chancellor today john mcdonnell how on earth would you be able to advise coping with coronavirus given the stricture immigration controls of new paid jobs are there affecting the economy we have one of the lowest hospital beds because peter. and in fact we've lost 43 percent of them general and acute bed since 97 how how could you possibly cope with years of brown blair major in government well i think we've had 10 years of austerity which boris johnson and his ministers backed faithfully in that period and that those 10 years of austerity have sort of held back our infrastructure denuded public social services of brazil was is and have created a perfect storm of circumstances in which a crises on top of all that leave us very ill prepared to deal with it and i think the chance. has has a very difficult job today he's g