Britain’s Conservative party has long prided itself on being the champion of business and protector of entrepreneurs. In last year’s manifesto, Boris Johnson reaffirmed this commitment when he described small businesses, family firms and the self-employed as among those that “create the wealth of the nation”. Those words now ring hollow for an estimated 3m small business people who have been largely left to fend for themselves through the coronavirus crisis.
The government has committed significant amounts of money to businesses to help them survive the crisis. Emergency loans, business rate relief and the self-employment income support scheme (SEISS), under which sole traders can claim up to £2,500 per month, have all been offered. Yet chancellor Rishi Sunak has consistently ignored the pleas for support from those who have been excluded — specifically, the recently self-employed, freelancers paid through the payroll system and those who are directors…