The Government's Self-employment Income Support Scheme has a qualifying limit that has left a great many people unable to work and without any hope of financial aid.

The Government has insisted that this only affects 5% of those in self-employment, and those earn an average of £200,000 a year.

This is not true.

I have been a musician on a well-known West End show for some years. When the Coronavirus hit and theatres were forced to close, we were booking to the end of 2020, with the booking period to be extended into 2021 and beyond.

The closure of the theatres has left a great many people unable to work, as the measures necessary to tackle the virus have in many other industries. A lot of these people are, like me, self-employed and we had been waiting with great anticipation for the announcement regarding financial aid that might see us through the weeks and months ahead.

The announcement that there was to be a profit limit of £50,000 was a terrible blow.

I fall outside the limit by just over £1000. The same is true for most of my colleagues. And is true for many self-employed people working in everything from  the entertainment industry to the legal profession

Someone on PAYE who earns four times what I do will get up to £2500 a month from the Government. A household of two self-employed people with combined profits of £99,000 will get up to £5000 a month.

Like my colleagues, I am now facing months without any prospect of income, but the Government will not help me because it has imposed a discriminatory and arbitrary qualifying limit for the only scheme I am eligible for.

I am far from alone.

Many of us who are self-employed have little job security to begin with. The climb back to some financial stability when normality starts to return will be a long one.

For us to receive up to £2500 a month for the period in which we are unable to work will mean the difference between some security and serious financial hardship that will take years for us to recover from.

There is no reason why all of us, employed or self-employed should not be treated in the same way and receive the same help from the Government.

There is no reason for some of us to be discriminated against in such an arbitrary way.

Please help us bring this matter to the attention of those who can address this injustice, and ensure we all get the help we need.