FURLOUGH looks set to continue until the summer, Rishi Sunak has hinted.
Speaking ahead of this week’s Budget, the Chancellor said the Government’s support schemes would be tied to Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown for England, which aims to end restrictions by June 21.
There are currently 4.7 million workers on the scheme, which pays up to 80% of salaries to those who cannot work because of Covid-19 restrictions.
Figures released last week revealed that 362,300 Scottish workers were furloughed on January 31, up from 288,900 on December 31.
The scheme is due to wind up at the end of April. Asked by Sophy Ridge on Sky News if there would be an extension, Sunak said he would “do whatever it took” to support workers.
READ MORE: Kate Forbes urges Chancellor to extend Universal Credit uplift and furlough
“I said at the beginning of this crisis that I would do whatever it took to protect people, families and businesses through this crisis and I remain completely committed to that.
“The PM’s roadmap set out a path for us to recover and reopen and I want to support people and businesses along that path.
“I’m not going to comment on specific policies but I want to make sure people realise that we are going to be there to support them and if you look at our track record we went big, we went early and there’s more to come next week,” he said.
The challenge facing the Chancellor was laid bare over the weekend, with the IFS predicting he’ll effectively need to raise an extra £43 billion.
Reports suggest Sunak is planning to freeze the thresholds where people start paying basic and higher rates for the next three years.
That could allow him to raise an additional £6bn, but could ultimately push an extra 1.6 million people into a higher tax bracket before the next General Election is due in 2024.
The Sunday Times yesterday claimed he privately told his own MPs that he would raise taxes now before cutting them in a Budget ahead of the 2024 election.
When asked about the remarks on Sky News, Sunak said: “I think in the short term what we need to do is protect the economy and keep supporting the economy through the road map, and over time what we need to do is make sure our public finances are sustainable.
“That isn’t going to happen overnight, that’s going to be work that takes time given the scale of the shock that we’ve experienced but if you’re asking do I want to deliver low taxes for people, of course I do.”
When asked again about the remarks on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show just an hour later, he said: “No I don’t recognise that and I think anyone given the shock that we’ve had over the last year and the economic uncertainty we face, it would be brave for people to know exactly what was going to happen in three years.”
WATCH: Labour 'sitting on the fence' by refusing to support permanent Universal Credit uplift
Reports suggest he’ll also outline plans to raise corporation tax from 19p in the pound to 25p by the end of the Parliament.
Meanwhile, the SNP’s Ian Blackford criticised Labour’s Anneliese Dodds after she refused to say the £20 uplift to Universal Credit should be permanent.
Dodds was asked three times by the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show if the £20 uplift should be made permanent.
She said the rise should be “maintained during the pandemic”.
“In the longer term, what we really need to see is radical reform, scrapping that Universal Credit system because it simply has not worked for families,” she said.
Responding to the comments, Blackford said: “We are clear that the £20 uplift must be made permanent and extended to legacy benefits, as part of a wider package to tackle the growing Tory poverty crisis that has engulfed the UK.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel