The furlough scheme will be extended to support businesses that have to close for a month under the second national lockdown.
Boris Johnson confirmed that the Government will pay 80% of wages of people who will be out of work as a result of the new measures.
The PM announced at a press conference on Saturday evening that the country will be plunged into a national lockdown on Thursday,
Schools and essential shops will remain open but all other businesses, including pubs and restaurants, will have to close until at least December 2, when the country will go back into a tiered system.
Mr Johnson said that without the measures, ‘we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day’.
But he said he was under ‘no illusions about how difficult this will be’ for businesses as he announced the continuation of the Job Retention Scheme.
He said: ‘I’m under no illusions about how difficult this will be for businesses which have already had to endure such hardship this year and I’m truly, truly sorry for that – and that’s why we’re going to extend the furlough system through November.
‘The furlough system was a success in the spring, it supported people in businesses in a critical time. We will not end it, we will extend furlough until December.’
The furlough scheme was due to expire today, when it was going to be replaced with a wage top up scheme for people who are working as little as a third of their normal hours due to coronavirus restrictions.
Many had called for it to be extended as regions in the north were plunged into tier three restrictions, forcing pubs and bars to close unless they can serve a substantial meal. The Government came under fire for only agreeing to pay two thirds of wages of employees whose places of work were forced to close.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who became embroiled in a row with Westminister over the financial support package for his region when it was forced into a tier three, questioned why furlough was only being extended now there was a national lockdown’.
In a response to a tweet from Chancellor Rishi Sunak he said: ‘But when we asked you to do that for the lowest-paid people in the North, you refused. People here will remember that.’
Mr Johnson said the extension of furlough would be time-limited from November 5 to December 2, when restrictions would be eased and regions would go back into the tiered system.
He added: ‘Christmas is going to be different this year, perhaps very different. but it’s my sincere hope and belief that by taking tough action now we can allow families across the country to be together.’
The second lockdown will largely mirror the first, with pubs and restaurants forced to close, though they can operate as takeaways. People will be asked to leave their home only for essential reasons such as a food shop, exercise, work and education.
Mr Johnson said: ‘We know the cost of these restrictions – the impact on jobs and livelihoods, and people’s mental health. No-one wants to be imposing these measures.’
But he said he ‘could not ignore’ bleak figures which suggest the second wave could be twice as deadly as the first.
‘In this country, and across much of Europe, the virus is spreading faster than even the reasonable worst case scenario. .. unless we act, we could see deaths running at several thousand a day,’ he said.
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