Ahead of the Chancellors’ Summer Statement, last night I spoke in a debate on COVID-19 Job Support Schemes where I called on the Government to take action to help those estimated 3million #ExcludedUK group who thus far have been left behind by UK Government support packages.

I also took the opportunity to pay thanks to the HMRC staff who have performed heroics to ensure that companies have been paid through the various support schemes, going the extra mile to ensure that companies are paid. What are the thanks they get? They get a notice from HMRC, notifying them that they could very well find themselves in a redundancy situation. That is an absurdity. HMRC went ahead with its office closure programme, but we have now seen the benefits of home working. Why should someone who has been asked to travel 100 miles to their next workplace be faced with a redundancy notice when this crisis, this pandemic, has proven the benefits of working from home to keep the economic wheels turning?