Six years after millions were denied fair and equal Covid financial support, ExcludedUK is calling on MPs and members of the House of Lords to join the Gaps in Covid-19 Financial Support APPG and help deliver long-overdue justice for those still paying the price today.
Six years on from the first Covid lockdown, for many the pandemic is remembered as a difficult chapter in the nation’s history. For those excluded from fair and equal financial support, it is not history at all. It is a continuing crisis.
Thousands of people are still living with the consequences of being denied the same protection given to others during the pandemic. While much of the population received support that did not have to be repaid, many excluded individuals were left with no option but to survive through debt, including credit cards, overdrafts, tax liabilities, rent arrears and loans that continue to cast a long shadow over their lives.
For many, the damage did not end when restrictions lifted. It continues in the form of mounting debt, failed businesses, lost homes, broken health, damaged family life and severe mental distress.
ExcludedUK is warning that this is not a closed issue, not a historic footnote, and not something Parliament can afford to ignore. It is a live and ongoing injustice affecting real people across the UK every day.
Jennifer Griffiths, Head of Member Welfare at ExcludedUK, said:
“Six years on, people are still paying for being excluded. They are still repaying debt they should never have had to take on. They are still facing the consequences of a policy failure that left them without fair and equal support in a national emergency.
We have already lost at least 40 members to suicide and have helped hundreds following attempted suicide, as well as thousands with mental wellbeing support and advice
This is not over. This is still happening now. People are still struggling to keep up with bills, still losing businesses, still facing the loss of their homes, and still carrying the mental and emotional burden of being abandoned when they needed help most.
We are urging MPs and Lords from all parties to join the Gaps in Covid-19 Financial Support APPG and stand with those who were shut out, left behind and forced into hardship. Parliament must not look away.”
The Gaps in Covid-19 Financial Support APPG exists to ensure that those excluded from support are not forgotten, and to press for accountability, recognition and meaningful action. At a time when many assume the issue has passed, the APPG continues to highlight the very real harm still being experienced by excluded families, sole traders, directors, freelancers and others who fell through the cracks.
ExcludedUK is calling on parliamentarians who believe in fairness, justice and accountability to join the APPG and help push this issue back where it belongs: at the heart of political attention.
This sixth anniversary is a stark reminder that while the lockdown ended years ago, the injustice did not.
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