Chancellor Rishi Sunak has begun the daily press conference from the UK government joined by deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries
Mr Sunak begins by saying he would announce “the next step in the economic fight” against the pandemic with help for the self-employed.
Self-employed to be paid 80% of profits, up to £2,500 a month, to help them cope with coronavirus crisis, UK says.
He says this will be calculated using average monthly profits over last three financial years.
Mr Sunak says the scheme will only be open to those who are already self-employed and have a self-assessment tax return for 2019.
It will apply to those with trading profits up to £50,000 a year, he adds.
He says 95% of those who are majority self-employed will benefit.
He says he hopes people will be able to “access” the scheme “no later than June”.
He says ministers have worked to make sure it is “targeted at those who need it the most”.
However, he also has a warning that the government will not be able to “protect every single job or protect every single business”.
More to come soon…
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