SOUTH West Wiltshire MP Dr Andrew Murrison has pleaded with Chancellor Rishi Sunak to provide Covid support for small limited company directors who pay themselves through dividends.

During the Chancellor’s update on Covid financial support, Dr Murrison said that small business directors had fallen through the cracks of the Treasury’s provision that has otherwise won praise from many in the UK and internationally.

He said they are precisely the people who will ultimately have to pay for the Treasury’s support package. Previously, Dr Murrison has been told that payments to directors who receive their income in the form of company dividends as opposed to salary would be prone to fraud.

He said: “The Federation of Small Businesses and others have suggested a scheme that would help the government provide for this group, whose members are mostly hard-working people on modest incomes, support that is similar to others it has been supporting throughout the crisis.

“It would help keep small businesses ticking over and with them the jobs they sustain. I know the Treasury is looking at how it can safely and securely help.”