IAN Blackford yesterday urged UK ministers not to treat coronavirus as a “game”.

The SNP’s Westminster leader hit out at Chancellor Rishi Sunak after he appeared on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. During that interview, Sunak commented that “there is no playbook” to get the UK through the pandemic.

But Blackford stated that “it is not a game” and called on Sunak to “think of the use of his language”, adding: “No wonder faith and trust in Boris Johnson and his Government is falling.”

The comments came ahead of a warning from the Treasury Select Committee that more than one million people have fallen through gaps in UK Government crisis support schemes.

“The Treasury’s interventions have been welcomed by many but rolling out financial support at pace and scale has inevitably resulted in some hard edges in policy design and some critical gaps in provision,” the committee said in a report published today.

Hundreds of thousands of newly employed workers are “through no fault of their own” some of those who have fallen through the cracks, the MPs said. The committee wants ministers to find ways to help the many freelancers and recent employees who have been unable to access support through furlough and other initiatives.

MPs said Sunak must live up to his promise to do whatever it takes to help people through the economic destruction wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

When lockdown first started, the Treasury said it would cover up to 80% of the salaries of workers who were unable to do their job from home. But those who started a new post after the UK Government’s February 28 cut-off date are not covered by the scheme.

Although this was later extended by three weeks, many have still been left behind, the committee said.

“Many individuals who had started work before the cut-off date were still ineligible for support because their employer had not submitted the required paperwork to add them to the payroll,” the committee wrote.

When they asked Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs whether employment contracts could be used as evidence, MPs were told it would take too long.

The committee also said the Government is failing to help those who have become self-employed within the last year and those whose companies have annual trading profits of more than £50,000.

It also said freelancers and people on short-term contracts, not least in TV and theatre, will not be covered by the schemes, nor are company directors who take their salaries as dividends.

Committee chair Mel Stride said: “The Chancellor has said that he will do whatever it takes to support people and businesses from the economic impact of the pandemic.

“If it is to be fair and completely fulfil its promise of doing whatever it takes, the Government should urgently enact our recommendations to help those who have fallen through the gaps.”

A Treasury spokesperson said: “The swift and targeted action we’ve taken has protected millions of jobs and livelihoods and our interventions have been rightly welcomed by the select committee.

“Our wide-ranging support package is one of the most comprehensive in the world – with generous income support schemes, billions paid in loans and grants, tax deferrals and more than £6.5 billion injected into the welfare safety net.

“All our support is targeted to make sure we use public funds responsibly, helping those who need it most as quickly as possible, while minimising fraud risk.”