Small businesses need postal subsidy to help them take on Covid

 

The Government should introduce subsidised postage for small businesses to help them cope with the cost of trading online, according to the Lib Dems.  Christine Jardine, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Treasury, will call for it to be included in a government support package for businesses in an adjournment debate she has secured in Parliament tomorrow (Wednesday). Christine will also call for the Government to come up with a long term strategy to help businesses cope with the enormous burden of debt that many will now face. Previously, Christine met Minister Paul Scully and wrote to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak about the postage issue, and has called for an extension to the furlough scheme until at least the summer and support for the millions who are still excluded from Government packages. Following Mr Sunak’s lacklustre statement in the Commons on Monday, she said: “It's time we had more than this patchwork approach which does not provide the long term strategy businesses, particularly the retail sector and creative industries, are crying out for. “I want to see independent shops and companies getting the same sort of financial lifeline that hospitality received, by helping them meet the costs of online and postal services so they are on a level playing field with their giant web-based competitors. “This government has left millions behind and almost a year into the pandemic, is still deaf to the appeals for action which are now coming from their own backbenches. “This debate is a chance to air these arguments and demand answers from the Government.”