Boris Johnson gave a strong hint that the massive furlough scheme could be extended again today as he unveiled an ultra-cautious ‘roadmap’ for easing lockdown.
The PM insisted the government will ‘continue to do whatever it takes to protect jobs’ for the ‘duration of the pandemic’, despite already having spent more than £280billion on the response.
The comments came as Mr Johnson unveiled an ultra-cautious exit strategy with schools to return from March 8 – but businesses facing damaging curbs for months to come.
Pubs and restaurants will be able to serve outdoors from April 12, and gyms can reopen. However, the hospitality sector will not be allowed to operate indoors until at least May, and it is not until June that legal social distancing restrictions might be removed.
In the Commons, Mr Johnson stopped short of confirming outright that support for businesses will be extended, with Rishi Sunak due to deliver his Budget next week.
But he nodded to the impending closure of the furlough scheme at the end of April, as well as the fact other support is due to lapse.
Boris Johnson gave a strong hint that the massive furlough scheme could be extended again today as he unveiled an ultra-cautious ‘roadmap’ for easing lockdown
The roadmap document published by the government today underlines the scale of the hit from coronavirus, which has caused the worst recession in 300 years
‘In view of these cautious but, I hope, irreversible changes, people may be concerned about what these changes mean for the various support packages for livelihoods, for people and the economy,’ Mr Johnson said.
‘So I want to reassure the House we will not pull the rug out – for the duration of the pandemic the Government will continue to do whatever it takes to protect jobs and livelihoods across the UK.
‘And the Chancellor will set out further details in the Budget next Wednesday.’
The roadmap document published by the government today underlines the scale of the hit from coronavirus, which has caused the worst recession in 300 years.
It points out that young people in particular have been hammered by the lockdowns.
‘Businesses and their suppliers are suffering from enforced closures and restrictions on social contact – particularly aviation, pubs, restaurants and hotels, sports and events, arts, entertainment and conferences – and so are their suppliers,’ the blueprint said.
‘Even though the Government has provided over £280 billion in financial support since March 2020, jobs have inevitably been lost given the unprecedented challenge of the pandemic.
‘The number of employees on payroll fell by 828,000 between February and December 2020.
‘The pain has not been felt equally. Staff in the hardest-hit sectors, such as hospitality, are more likely to be young, female, from an ethnic minority, and lower paid.
‘The unemployment rate for those aged 18 to 24 increased from 10.5 per cent in the three months to February 2020 to 13.2 per cent in the three months to November.’
Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds tweeted: ‘Indoor hospitality won’t reopen until 17 May at the earliest – more than a month after they have to start paying business rates and more than two weeks after furlough ends.
‘Businesses needed certainty today. Instead this Conservative Government has left them in the lurch again.’
Union warned workers have been left worrying about their jobs after the PM’s announcement because some businesses will not be able to reopen before the furlough scheme ends.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said there could be a gap of months before workers know if they still have a job.
The roadmap document points out that young people in particular have been hammered by the lockdowns
‘The Government must stop dithering and delaying and extend the full furlough scheme for at least the rest of 2021, and it must (give) urgent support for the self-employed.
‘With jobs and livelihoods hanging in the balance there is no reason to keep workers and businesses waiting.
‘We need a plan for supporting the parts of the economy hit hardest by repeated lockdown restrictions, like hospitality, retail, aviation and the creative industries.
‘Ministers cannot watch from the sidelines as companies go the wall.
‘If the Prime Minister wants to make sure we never go into lockdown again, he must do a better job of keeping people safe as they return to workplaces in large numbers.
‘That means beefing up workplace safety guidance so that it’s in line with the latest science and cracking down on employers who put staff in danger,’ she said.