Lack of financial support for self-employed and small limited companies during the covid-19 outbreak

That this House notes the acute difficulties facing business owners throughout the covid-19 outbreak, particularly self-employed people and directors of small limited companies; understands that the Government's financial packages have left behind people who have been left ineligible for any form of Government support; further notes that many self-employed directors of limited companies operated their businesses in this way following incentives from successive Governments by means of tax arrangements that made it easier to establish a limited company and expresses its deep regret that the Government has left these workers and business owners stranded and unable to access financial support through either the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or the Self Employed Income Support Scheme; considers the availability of universal credit to be insufficient to allow people to both live and protect their businesses; and backs the calls from campaign group Excluded, which estimates that some three million workers have been excluded from Government support to date, to end disparities in Government covid-19 support packages that are currently excluding millions of people across the UK, putting livelihoods and businesses at risk.