Anthony Powell

Thank-you @carolvorders and the @LBC team, for dedicating an hour to this appalling scandal, and you have brought a glimmer of hope back into the lives of millions of victims of this Tory Gov. The #ExcludedUK hope that @UKLabour @LibDems @theSNP @Plaid_Cymru will now help us.

📢 #IsItOK to campaign alongside 3.8 million excluded UK taxpayers for over SIX YEARS, promise them justice, then fall silent when you become Prime Minister? @andyburnham, we are still waiting for answers. #IsItOK that another #ExcludedUK member was made homeless last Friday... the fourth house last in the last SIX weeks!!! We thought you were trying to end homelessness?!?!!! For well over six years, Andy Burnham was one of the most vocal and passionate political supporters of #ExcludedUK, campaigning WITH us for the millions of hardworking UK taxpayers who were wholly or partially excluded from meaningful Covid-19 financial support. These included freelancers, the self-employed, small business owners, company directors and thousands of people, including those working in the TV and film industries, many of whom saw their livelihoods disappear overnight. Andy did not simply offer a few words of sympathy. He actively campaigned alongside us, co-hosting several events with Jennifer Griffiths, Head of ExcludedUK, speaking directly to our members, listening to their devastating experiences and repeatedly pledging his support. 🎥 WATCH THE ATTACHED VIDEO In this recording, Andy Burnham promises to pursue financial remedy AND a public apology for those so appallingly let down. He knew the human cost of exclusion. He knew that at least 40 people had taken their own lives, with their deaths reported to ExcludedUK in connection with the devastating consequences of being denied support. He has described the exclusion as "indefensible" and said a solution was "fair, proportionate and doable". Yet since becoming Prime Minister, the man who stood beside us for well over six years appears to have fallen silent. 📩 Our emails and messages to Andy Burnham have gone unanswered. 📩 Our correspondence to Chancellor @JohnHealey_MP has also failed to secure the answers and action we have been seeking. 💔 Families are still grieving. Lives and livelihoods remain shattered. People are still living with the financial and psychological consequences of decisions made more than six years ago. Attemtped suicides are still a regular occurence! Not even the promised apology has materialised. 💥 An apology costs NOTHING! No Treasury funding. No Budget allocation. No complicated financial calculations. An apology is FREE, and that is something we can ALL afford! So, Andy, we ask you: ❓ #IsItOK to promise hope to millions of people and then leave them waiting when you finally have the power to deliver? ❓ #IsItOK to acknowledge the devastating human cost of exclusion but still fail to provide even a public apology? ❓ #IsItOK for those who dutifully paid into the system, but were deliberately left out, to still be fighting for justice more than SIX YEARS later? Andy, you stood with us when you were campaigning. We need you to stand with us now that you are in power. 3.8 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN. We are not going away. #ExcludedUK #IsItOK #TheLastLeg #AndyBurnham #JohnHealey #Channel4 #AdamHills #JoshWiddicombe #AlexBrooker #TVandFilm #Freelancers #SelfEmployed #Covid19 #CovidSupport #ExcludedFighter #WeAreNotGoingAway #Relentless

This week I told @CommonsTreasury unless we help those #excludeduk from state support - who had viable productive jobs pre Covid, and only struggle now because of it. We'll end up putting many on the scrap heat unnecessarily. This has to change... moneysavingexpert.com/news/2…

🚨 ANDY BURNHAM, PLEASE REMEMBER THE PROMISES YOU MADE TO EXCLUDEDUK! 🚨 Six and a half years. 3.8 million taxpayers. Countless promises. Still no justice. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, this video is a reminder of the commitments you have made to ExcludedUK and the millions of taxpayers who were denied parity of Covid-19 financial support. You have been one of our loudest and most consistent political champions since the beginning of our campaign. You have listened to our stories, spoken at our events, stood alongside our members and repeatedly acknowledged the devastating injustice we have suffered. You even co-hosted several events with our Head of ExcludedUK, Jennifer Griffiths, including the livestream in June 2024, when you told us: 🗣️ “The public see you and the public support you.” 🗣️ “The passage of time doesn’t change that.” 🗣️ “The level of injustice that you have faced is indefensible.” 🗣️ “We will work with you to make sure that the excluded is recognised as one of the injustices that this country needs to rectify.” You also spoke about financial remedies that could be “fair, proportionate and doable.” Those words gave people hope, Andy. Real hope. For some of our members, that hope was the very thing that kept them going when everything else seemed lost. But the years have passed. Businesses have disappeared. Homes have been lost. Families have been torn apart. Tragically, we know of more than 40 people who died by suicide, with exclusion contributing to the devastating circumstances they faced. We cannot bring those people back. But we CAN honour their memories by ensuring that this injustice is finally acknowledged and addressed. Today, you are no longer campaigning from outside Westminster. You are the Prime Minister. We understand that financial redress requires careful consideration, political will and public money. But an apology costs NOTHING. Not a penny. Yet even that basic acknowledgement of what happened to 3.8 million hardworking, taxpaying people has still not been forthcoming. We are asking you to honour your commitments: ✅ Deliver a full and frank public apology ✅ Meet with ExcludedUK, our APPG and representatives of the bereaved families and those who survived suicide attempts ✅ Work with us towards a fair, proportionate and achievable financial remedy ✅ Recognise the devastating and continuing consequences of exclusion Andy, you once told us that the passage of time does not change the injustice. We agree. We haven't forgotten your words, and we haven't given up on you. Please don't give up on us. 🎥 WATCH THE VIDEO. LISTEN TO YOUR OWN WORDS. REMEMBER THE PEOPLE YOU PROMISED TO HELP. youtu.be/Yjm6ag4m1xI Dutifully paid in. Deliberately left out. #ExcludedUK #WeAreNotGoingAway #Relentless @andyburnham @JohnHealey_MP @ExcludedFighter @SadieMHarris @JohnMartinComic @TonyRobinsonOBE @inkbyboston @StephenLiddell_ @Travelicious_24 @harrisonmaxwell

This is another example of a scandal and utter injustice to millions of people. The #ExcludedUK deserve justice. #excludedscandal @ExcludedFighter @ExcludedUnity @ExcludedNeedJu1

Please do not continue the wall of silence we have become used to from the last @UKLabour PM... we thought you were better than that @andyburnham!! Please contact, Jennifer Griffiths, Head of ExcludedUK to arrange a meeting to look at the way forward... just cast your eye over this video to remind yourself of what you said to her on the livestream you co-hosted with her on 24th June 2024.... an apology is FREE... you promised it... you can afford it...FREE is the right price to vindicate the +40 individuals who saw no othre option but to take their own lives! @andyburnham or @JohnHealey_MP are welcome to make contact.... [email protected] DID YOU GET LITTLE OR NO FINANCIAL SUPPORT DURING COVID? Were you excluded from fair and equal Covid-19 financial support? If so, join some of the other 3.8 million UK taxpayers who were, as we campaign for this scandal to be put right.. bit.ly/3UunLTY Dutifully paid in, deliberately left out! Lives & livelihoods ruined! 37+ suicides and hundreds of attempted suicides! Website: excludeduk.org Facebook Group: bit.ly/3UunLTY Sign up to our mailing list: bit.ly/4bdpB0U Sign our petition: petition.parliament.uk/petit… There are over 20 categories of exclusions including: ·New starters ·New Businesses ·PAYE freelancers ·Newly self-employed ·Those denied furlough ·Directors paid in Dividends ·Directors paid PAYE Annually ·Made redundant before 19 Mar 2020 ·Directors of Companies not in Profit ·Self-employed with +£50k trading profits ·Businesses ineligible for Business Grants ·Those in maternity/parental/adoption leave ·Those earning less than 50% income from self-employment ·Those whose personal circumstances have affected entitlement to support e.g. pensions, bereavement allowance, carer’s allowance, students, armed forces veterans… and more… ExcludedUK are asking for: (1) An apology from government so this injustice is recognised and assurance that it will never happen again. (2) Parity of support (3) Acknowledgement of loss of earnings/profit and consequential loss. #ExcludedUK @ExcludedFighter @SadieMHarris @JohnMartinComic @inkbyboston @harrisonmaxwell @NickFerrariLBC @ITVX @PA @ExcludedUK @andyburnham @JohnHealey_MP @downingstreet @switherdenMP @MP4Stratford @AlPinkerton @gregsmith_uk @RichardNewby3 @ExcludedFighter @SadieMHarris @APPGGapsSupport @UKLabour @LibDems @Conservatives @theSNP @reformparty_uk @thisisyourparty @Plaid_Cymru @TheGreenParty @thatginamiller @MartinSLewis @JohnDCaudwell @itvnews @GMB @GBNEWS @BigIssue @LBC @itvnews @BBCNews @PA @AP @BBCBreakfast

This is for the 3.8 million lives that were ignored. The freelancers and the self employed. The Conference are trying every trick to have this taken down…so I’ve just deployed large digital vans as well, to keep circling the area.

📢 #IsItOK to campaign alongside 3.8 million excluded UK taxpayers for over SIX YEARS, promise them justice, then fall silent when you become Prime Minister? @andyburnham, we are still waiting for answers. #IsItOK that another #ExcludedUK member was made homeless last Friday... the fourth house last in the last SIX weeks!!! We thought you were trying to end homelessness?!?!!! For well over six years, Andy Burnham was one of the most vocal and passionate political supporters of #ExcludedUK, campaigning WITH us for the millions of hardworking UK taxpayers who were wholly or partially excluded from meaningful Covid-19 financial support. These included freelancers, the self-employed, small business owners, company directors and thousands of people, including those working in the TV and film industries, many of whom saw their livelihoods disappear overnight. Andy did not simply offer a few words of sympathy. He actively campaigned alongside us, co-hosting several events with Jennifer Griffiths, Head of ExcludedUK, speaking directly to our members, listening to their devastating experiences and repeatedly pledging his support. 🎥 WATCH THE ATTACHED VIDEO In this recording, Andy Burnham promises to pursue financial remedy AND a public apology for those so appallingly let down. He knew the human cost of exclusion. He knew that at least 40 people had taken their own lives, with their deaths reported to ExcludedUK in connection with the devastating consequences of being denied support. He has described the exclusion as "indefensible" and said a solution was "fair, proportionate and doable". Yet since becoming Prime Minister, the man who stood beside us for well over six years appears to have fallen silent. 📩 Our emails and messages to Andy Burnham have gone unanswered. 📩 Our correspondence to Chancellor @JohnHealey_MP has also failed to secure the answers and action we have been seeking. 💔 Families are still grieving. Lives and livelihoods remain shattered. People are still living with the financial and psychological consequences of decisions made more than six years ago. Attemtped suicides are still a regular occurence! Not even the promised apology has materialised. 💥 An apology costs NOTHING! No Treasury funding. No Budget allocation. No complicated financial calculations. An apology is FREE, and that is something we can ALL afford! So, Andy, we ask you: ❓ #IsItOK to promise hope to millions of people and then leave them waiting when you finally have the power to deliver? ❓ #IsItOK to acknowledge the devastating human cost of exclusion but still fail to provide even a public apology? ❓ #IsItOK for those who dutifully paid into the system, but were deliberately left out, to still be fighting for justice more than SIX YEARS later? Andy, you stood with us when you were campaigning. We need you to stand with us now that you are in power. 3.8 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN. We are not going away. #ExcludedUK #IsItOK #TheLastLeg #AndyBurnham #JohnHealey #Channel4 #AdamHills #JoshWiddicombe #AlexBrooker #TVandFilm #Freelancers #SelfEmployed #Covid19 #CovidSupport #ExcludedFighter #WeAreNotGoingAway #Relentless

Sole traders. Micro businesses with one or two employees. Freelancers. Plumbers. Electricians. Hairdressers. Mechanics. Accountants. Gardeners. Whatever it is, whoever they are. These are the workers that keep the economy going. Not the big global corporates. Politicians, and those devising the rules, simply do not understand how these people live. Nobody ever even talks about the one or two people operations in Westminster. Saturday morning in the bureaucrat’s world? Friday working from home, so nice easy day to finish off the week. Laptop closed by 15.00. Phone off for the weekend, not a care in the world. Life is sweet. Holiday coming up, mortgage comfortable, pension growing nicely. The sole trader? Getting invoices and paperwork sorted at 6am before the children wake up. Chasing up late payments. Weighing up whether to do that last minute emergency call out, or spend time with the kids on a Saturday. Getting the diary sorted for next week. Phone goes and goes all weekend. It is never-ending. It does not stop. It’s two different worlds honestly. The issue is that the latter entirely funds the former, and the former is hellbent on making life as difficult as possible for productive Britain. I want to be really clear about what Restore Britain would do. Two things. Crush parasitic Britain. Unleash productive Britain. First. Scrap IR35. It has created years of confusion, fear and chaos for contractors and small operators. It has pushed countless self-employed people into pointless paperwork and rigid inflexibility. Doesn’t work. It’s a right pain in the arse for millions. Scrap it. Second, we will double the VAT threshold. The current threshold traps thousands of small businesses just as they begin to grow. Many deliberately stop expanding to avoid the enormous administrative burden of VAT and the brutal cost hikes which drive demand away. The evidence of is obvious. Thousands hover just below the threshold, refusing to grow, hire or pay more tax. It is ABSURD. Restore Britain would double the VAT threshold so small businesses can grow without being punished for success. This is absolutely necessary. An important one - we would dramatically simplify the tax system for sole traders and micro-businesses (and everyone else, but that's separate). Instead of forcing small operators through pages of complicated accounting rules designed for large corporations, we will introduce a far simplified tax regime for businesses below a certain size. Less paperwork, fewer forms, clearer rules. More money for them, less for the accountants and parasitic professional class. Sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it? Next. We will end the endless culture of inspections and bureaucratic interference from the bureaucrats. Too many small businesses now live in fear of accidental breaches - whether it’s health and safety nonsense, employment law complexity, ridiculous data laws or constantly changing compliance requirements. The stress is immense. If you are a sole trader or micro-business acting in good faith, the system should support you, not threaten you. Restore Britain will free them from endless regulatory suffocation. The mental health release on that is worth it alone. Means a lot to me, this one. Restore Britain will make it easier for tradespeople to hire apprentices. This is important. One of the biggest problems small businesses face is bringing in the next generation. The current system is too complicated, too expensive and too rigid for small firms. Restore Britain will introduce simple, flexible apprenticeship schemes designed specifically for small businesses and trades. Up next, we will simplify planning and licensing rules. For small builders, tradespeople and contractors - planning restrictions and local bureaucracy can delay work for months and add unnecessary costs. I detest planning departments more than I can describe in language appropriate for a Saturday morning. These jumped-up empire-building little runts running councils across Britain will have their power stripped away from them. We will let people do business, we will let business owners run their businesses without the sneering council worker’s constant box ticking. Not complicated. We will restore respect for the self-employed. Look at how they were treated during lockdown. Like dirt. Entirely abandoned whilst others were paid to do nothing. That must be addressed, and they must be compensated. The excluded must finally be recognised. That wrong must be rectified. Under a Restore Britain Government, their efforts will be appreciated, celebrated and most importantly? Rewarded. This is the key point. Let’s not pretend otherwise. The five golden rules of business. What’s in it for me? We will radically slash tax and raise thresholds. Tax on dividends would be hacked down so that success pays. More work, pays. Effort, pays. If the electrician does that last minute job on a Saturday, it will be worth their time. They will be rewarded, not HMRC. Restore Britain will slash the bureaucracy, simplify the rules, cut the taxes. We will give small businesses the freedom they need to thrive, to support their families and to succeed. Parasitic Britain will end. Sole traders and micro businesses finally have a political party that will fight for them. Restore Britain.