Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a new set of financial measures from the Treasury aimed at helping British workers cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The Chancellor last week set out 80 percent wage subsidies for employees, and the Treasury spent the past week working on policies to offer support to the estimated five million self-employed and freelancers facing disruptions. Speaking at the daily Downing Stree briefing on Thursday, Mr Sunak said: “You have not been forgotten, we will not let you behind, we all stand together.

“To support those who work for themselves, today I’m announcing a new self-employed income support scheme.

“The Government will pay self-employed people who have been adversely affected by the coronavirus a taxable grant worth 80 percent of their average monthly profit over the last three years up to £2,500 a month.”

The Chancellor continued: “This scheme will be open to people across the Uk for at least three months, and I will extend it for longer if necessary.

“You’ll be able to claim these grants and continue to do business.

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“And we are covering the same amount of income for a self-employed person as we are for furloughed employees, who also receive a grant worth 80 percent.”

Mr Sunak highlighted the unprecedented move, pointing out the scheme the Treasury devised to help the self-employed is among the most generous available in the world.

He added: “That’s unlike almost any other country and makes our scheme one of the most generous in the world.

Providing such support to the self-employed has been difficult to do in practice, and the self-employed are a diverse population with some people earning significant profits. So I have taken steps to make this scheme deliverable and fair.”

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