SCRAPPING the furlough scheme will cause a “wave of mass redundancies across the UK”, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has warned.

Speaking during PMQs, he said: “Next week, just as the pandemic is worsening, the Tory Government will scrap the furlough scheme in a move that will cause a wave of mass redundancies across the UK.

“Meanwhile, behind closed doors the Prime Minister’s complaining that he can’t get by on his £150,000 salary.

READ MORE: Covid in Scotland: 28 deaths recorded in highest daily figure since May

“So, can I ask the PM, if he’s finding life such a struggle, how on earth does he expect many workers to get by on just £5.84 an hour when the Tory cuts to furlough sink in?”

Responding, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Actually, I’m proud of what we’ve done to support people on low incomes throughout this period and indeed before. It was this government that raised the living wage by record amounts.

“We’ve just increased Universal Credit by about £1000 a year and he makes the point about furlough and, as he knows, combine UC with the jobs support scheme that we’ve just announced and workers will be getting 80% of their salary.

“We will get this country through this crisis and we will continue to support people of low incomes throughout the period.”

But Ian Blackford pushed again for a U-turn. He told the Chamber: “I’m afraid the PM just simply doesn’t get it. Yesterday we saw his total disregard for the people of Greater Manchester, a Tory attitude that people in Scotland are all too familiar with.

“Millions of families struggling to get by and this Tory government wants to cut their incomes in the middle of a pandemic. It is clear that the PM has made a deliberate decision to let unemployment soar, just like Thatcher in the 1980s.

“Time is running out with one week left, will the PM finally U-turn on his cuts to the furlough scheme and invest in our communities, or will he leave millions on the scrapheap?”

Johnson replied: “I really must reject what (he) has said because it bears no relation to the facts of the reality of what this Government is doing to support people across the country, and it’s not just the £200 billion investment in jobs and livelihoods.

“What we also are engaged in and what we will continue to deliver is a colossal investment in education, in health, in housing, in infrastructure that will deliver jobs and growth throughout this UK for a generation.”