CARDENDEN and Kinglassie MP, Peter Grant, has welcomed the news that self-employed people are to receive financial support amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

The SNP in Westminster have been calling on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to offer more help to self-employed workers, hundreds of whom work in the Central Fife area, who are impacted by the coronavirus crisis.

It has now been announced that self-employed people will be able to submit their last three years' tax returns and will receive a grant of up to 80% of what they earned over that period, up to £2,500 a month. This taxable grant will be capped at £50,000 and it expected that 95% of self-employed people will benefit from this.

However, the Glenrothes and Central Fife MP says that this long awaited announcement doesn’t go far enough and fails to match the Prime Minister’s pledge earlier this week.

Mr Grant has once again called for an emergency Universal Basic Income to be introduced and said: “While I welcome this long-awaited announcement and would urge all who are eligible to apply, it does fall short of what I and others have been asking for. "There has been a lot of uncertainty surrounding self-employed people and how the coronavirus restrictions will impact them financially. To tell people who rely on a regular weekly flow of income from their business that they have to wait until at least June is simply unacceptable".

He added: “Providing financial assistance isn’t only a necessary step for the economy, but it is also necessary to ensure that self-employed people stay at home and do not feel compelled to work just to make sure that they have money coming in to support them and their families.

“I would once again reiterate my call for the Prime Minister, Chancellor, and wider UK Government to introduce an emergency Universal Basic Income to ensure that people’s incomes are protected in the face of this pandemic.”