We urge members to continue writing to their MPs with our new points. Photo credit: Shutterstock
We are concerned about the self-employed musicians who are not covered by these new measures, and also how the Government will cover the gap until support is made available in June.
We have updated our call on Government to reflect these concerns, and urge members to continue writing to their MPs with our new points.
Write to your MP
Write to your MP now. If there is one thing that will change the game for all musicians, it is immediate and informed Government action.
Email your MP using Write to Them. You can still write to your MP if you have no fixed address. Find out more via parliament.uk.
If you’re not sure what to say, here is something to get you started.
Please ask the Prime Minister to:
- Provide meaningful support for those who have been self employed for less than a year.
- Ensure people who are part employed and part self-employed can access support through both schemes.
- Remove the £50,000 cap, as no equivalent cap exists for employed people.
- Provide support for self-employed people who run as limited companies and pay themselves in dividends, not PAYE.
- Speed the Universal Credit application process up to cover the gap until support is made available in June, or find an alternative method of covering the income gap.
- Announce statutory sick pay that is really for all from day one of self isolation whether you have coronavirus or someone in your household does.
I also ask that you contact the Musicians’ Union’s Head of Government Relations Isabelle Gutierrez for more about the challenges COVID-19 is presenting me and other freelancers, and what else you can do to support us. Remember to explain how coronavirus is already affecting you, and how it will affect you in the next few months.
Personal stories really do help – they show MPs the truth of the situation and give them case studies to show Government that it is urgent.
You can already see the impact that you’ve made in calling on Government to provide financial relief for the self-employed. Now we need to make sure that all self-employed musicians are truly covered.
If you don't qualify for the scheme
If it doesn't look like you will qualify for the new relief measures for self-employed musicians, please let your MP know. Your MU Regional Office is also available to answer specific questions, and you can find further details of alternative sources of finance on our Financial Support Page.
It is also essential that we know how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting all musicians. This is especially true if you are not covered by Government's support package for the self-employed. Please take our COVID-19 impact survey.
Taking action to protect musicians
For a rundown of our lobbying work and other things you can do right now to make life easier for musicians and other freelancers during the coronavirus outbreak, see our page on Taking Action to Protect Musicians.