It’s only April and yet 2020 has already been an extraordinary year. Whatever your age, whether you are in work, retired, self- employed, in education or in a vulnerable group, you will have been affected by the sudden onslaught of the coronavirus, which has taken the whole world by surprise.

I  am very disappointed that Easingwold Post Office has closed because of the coronavirus. I am pressing the Post Office to find alternative arrangements for the many people who rely on it for essential transactions such as pensions or accessing the PayZone to top up prepaid utility meters.

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has delivered once again following the concerns we raised with him about the new Coronavirus Business Loans Interruption Scheme (CBILS).

The Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock, has unveiled a plan to dramatically ramp up Coronavirus testing so that by the end of this month 100,000 tests are carried out every day in England.

I have had a number of inquiries about commercial rents from those who are struggling to meet this cost, even if they are in receipt of a business rate grant.

We are getting lots of businesses and tradespeople asking us whether they can continue to go to work.

How does it work?

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced a multi-billion package of support for self-employed people to enable them to carry on doing business. He described it as ‘one of the most generous in the world’.

I appreciate that this is a difficult time for many people and, in particular, those people who are elderly and vulnerable and may have to be at home for 12 weeks.

SELF-EMPLOYED

As the Prime Minister said in the House today, we understand the situation many self-employed people face at the moment and we are determined to find a way to support them. We will be making a further announcement very shortly.