Economic Update

Meg Hillier Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

I thank my hon. Friend for his comments and am happy to look at what he is saying.

[Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

Many of my constituents are freelancers. One wrote to me unable to pay his rent or bills in the next couple of weeks. That is how urgent the situation is. Can the Chancellor give any comfort tonight for people who are very worried? They have been laid off today, have no ability to pay the bills and their freelance work has dried up. We are told that we have to wait for an answer from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary. The Government have known that this was coming. Where is the planning? What answer does the Chancellor have now?

[Rishi Sunak]

For those people, the measures that we took last week will already start to help from day one. The Work and Pensions Secretary has already put in place support to make sure that access to the security that they need is both faster and more generous than it was.