CORONAVIRUS: Chamber of Commerce calls for Universal Basic Income and more help for traders

As the battle against coronavirus escalates, Mr Farrell said local and national government have not done enough to help traders.

Despite Prime Minister Boris Johnston and NI Assembly Finance Minister Conor Murphy offering various help schemes, Mr Farrell believes it doesn’t go anywhere near enough to help businesses in NI.

As the week progressed, fewer customers have ventured into Portadown town centre leaving many businesses struggling.

Mr Farrell warned against schemes which were basically loans that must be paid back at a later stage.

“We need action and now. There are many traders who basically are going to hit a cashflow problem. Many have bought in goods for Mothers Day and now may be left unable to sell hundreds of pounds worth of stock,” said Mr Farrell.

Plus he said as businesses will have lots of unsold stock and bills to pay as well as staff to pay, there must be a ‘universal basic income’ for everyone.

“Current Statutory Sick Pay is not enough,” said Mr Farrell.

He said there must be a rates holiday for a year to help businesses get through this crisis.

He welcomed the £25k grant for businesses but questioned why it was not available for firms in Northern Ireland.

Also he said there must be a mortgage holiday for business and home owners and a rates holiday for those renting.

“Government needs to think outside the box. Now for example is an ideal time to fix the potholes on the roads now that they are quiet. Get the government to employ more contractors to do this and that would mean more income for local people and in turn help local businesses.

Mr Farrell admitted that it was a very concerning time for those in retail but said it was important that people ‘keep calm and focussed until we get through this’.

“It might be that we will have to hibernate some businesses and then help bring them back to life when this is over,” he said. “We must think outside the box.”