I took the decision to become self-employed in October 2019 when I set up my own recruitment business. I didn't take a salary until recently as I wanted to keep the money I invested in my business, in the business. When the coronavirus hit, the fact that I hadn't taken a salary meant I was not eligible for government coronavirus support packages that helped many self-employed workers survive during the pandemic. There are many other reasons why self-employed workers can not be eligible for government support: 2.9 million of us cannot access it! [1] The pandemic and lockdown massively impacted my business and I've had no option but to live off my savings. It's time the government stepped up and provided support to the millions of self-employed workers like me who are falling through the cracks of support. [1] Excluded UK: https://www.excludeduk.org/about

Tackling Poverty

Because it’s just as I’m important as banning smoking ads ect as it’s can be just as destroying as drug addiction and end up taking lives and also hits the vulnerable art the late hours.

Children should never be left to go hungry. 4.5 million kids in the UK are living below the breadline, while MPs - having given themselves a pay-rise in March this year - are claiming back meal expenses and even having subsidised drinks in the parliament bar! The Mill Pub in Yorkshire has set the standard - these MPs think they can snatch meals from our kids, well, let's see how they like it when they're banned from every pub in the country!!! It's time for the biggest pub chains in the country to step up and show who's side they're on. If enough of us sign today then we can show these greedy MPs that they can't get away with starving our kids.

Understand the impact of reforms on children where many other vulnerable groups are protected somewhat from the programmes of welfare reform, children remain vulnerable to its effects. Understanding the impacts of these reforms on children should help inform policies and encourage thinking about how to mitigate these effects.

This will let people live in the living conditions everyone now a days should be living in and can potentially save many, many lives for so many elderly and anyone who has lost their job through pandemic or cannot work for health or many other reasons. The last thing Scotland needs now is badly insulated homes more people getting ill while we try fight a deadly virus.

MPs have voted against extending free school meals into the holidays for the poorest children in the UK, in the middle of a pandemic. They should under no circumstances benefit from free or subsidised meals out of public funds themselves. If the public purse cannot afford to feed the poorest in our society, why are we feeding those least in need? Already well paid public servants, set to receive yet another generous pay increase, whilst millions face hardship, job losses and poverty, do not need the public to pay for their food and drink. Public funds should be spent on those most in need of them. Read more about what expenses MPs can claim for food here: https://fullfact.org/online/mps-free-housing-alcohol/ UPDATE 23/10/2020: Portia Lawrie, who started the petition, said: "I only started this petition yesterday because I was so angry that some MPs had rejected the chance in parliament, and Marcus Rashford's campaign, to extend free school meals into the school holiday. I wanted to point out the clear hypocrisy between that and the food and drink the public subsidise for MP's whilst denying support to those most in need of it." "I couldn't quite believe what I was watching unfold as hundreds of thousands of people threw their support behind it in less than 24 hours. It’s simply unfair that the government is refusing to use OUR money for one of the most basic responsibilities of a compassionate society - feeding hungry children. And the level of support this petition is getting shows clearly the level of hurt caused by those who voted against it." "Many MPs are pushing for free school meals to be extended into the school holidays, and I applaud them. But It’s time for the government to listen to them, and us, and make sure children across the UK do not go hungry any longer. Enough is enough."

Families are facing unprecedented hardship. The Child Poverty Action group stated today that: “We've reached a low point if in the midst of a pandemic we can't make sure children in the lowest income families have a nutritious meal in the middle of the day."

This is important to help the children to be able to concentrate on thre studies and not to go hungry

Our children's health and safety should be of paramount consideration both for Schools and their local neighbours and community for which Morrisons Supermarket Ascot Road Watford clearly is. Some relatively simple measures could be facilitated to ensure these objectives are achieved and to the reduce the risks of exposure illnesses such as Asthma, or any unnecessary road traffic collisions.

In just under a month the suspension on the Minimum Income Floor (MIF) for Universal Credit payments will end. [1] This may seem like an insignificant fact but the suspension of the MIF has been the only lifeline for self-employed people like myself and 3 million others who fell through the gaps in the various coronavirus employment support packages [2]. What the reintroduction of MIF means is that any individual who earns less than £1,322 (after expenses) per calendar month will be considered unemployed even if they submit a tax return. They will be expected to be looking for work for 35 hours a week and to take any job that is offered even if it might clash with their pre-existing self-employment [3]. Their existing profession will not be considered viable. My sector has been on standby on the instruction of the government in the interests of public health. My business is only temporarily interrupted because of the closures of venues which will eventually reopen, and yet I have not received a penny in Covid-related support from either furlough or the SEISS. Like many others like me, I have managed to survive on Universal Credit and/or through the generosity of friends. With the reintroduction of the Minimum Income Floor, not only will I be forced to close my business, I will also not be able to afford to retrain in anything that I have the potential to succeed at. This will force self-employed artists like myself into precarious unskilled jobs, if available, and poverty. Productivity will drop and recovery of the arts sector post-pandemic will be delayed by a generation. It’s also a real slap in the face to artists who already make huge financial and personal sacrifices to be able to create joy and escapism for other people. The arts are viable, and we’re important. For the last 8 month, we’ve been largely ignored by the government despite their assertions that they won't "leave anyone behind" [4]. The removal of the MIF will be the last straw. __________________________ References: [1] The Social Security (Coronavirus) Regulations | "Section 2 deals with MIF suspension. Section 10 deals with the expiry of this legisaltion which says "(2) Regulations 2, 6, 7, 8 and 9 cease to have effect at the end of the period of eight months beginning on 13th March 2020." | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/371/made?fbclid=IwAR1aIcgQ62JmRfKr98sKkQDlqJV_mO1En8rLb281xz_KGEHRJsPVuP3Fy7Y [2] Calculation for the 3 million taxpayers excluded from UK Government Covid-19 financial support | ExcludedUK | "Self-employed excluded: 1.6 million, CJRS excluded – ltd company directors: 710,000, CJRS excluded – other employees: 790,000" | https://www.excludeduk.org/three-million-breakdown [3] Universal Credit: Your Responsibilities | https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/your-responsibilities [4] "You have not been forgotten. We will not leave you behind. We are all in this together." | Rishi Sunak (Chancellor of the Exchequer) | https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1243235450908803072

There are over a million people this affects.