Boris: I’ll be blunt – the furlough will be over in October

BORIS Johnson has warned the furlough scheme cannot continue indefinitely as he encourages people to get back to work.

The Prime Minister yesterday delivered a ‘very, very blunt’ message that the initiative keeping 9.3million people in ‘suspended animation’ could not go on.

He said it is time to be ‘absolutely frank’ and say remaining at home is ‘not, in the long term, healthy either for the economy or for you’.

His words will dismay business

‘Got to get the economy moving’

groups and unions pleading for a third extension of the scheme which is due to end in October, when it will have cost an estimated £60billion.

The Prime Minister’s stark warning that the furlough cannot be extended was made in a wide-ranging interview with the Evening Standard.

It comes after business groups and trade unions started lobbying for a third postponement of the cut- off date to the coronavirus job retention scheme ( JRS) which currently pays 80 per cent of a salary for those who cannot work.

In the Commons yesterday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, citing job losses at Airbus and elsewhere, asked: ‘Will the Prime Minister start now by extending the furlough scheme for those parts of the economy still most at risk?’

However, the Prime Minister told the paper: ‘I’ve got to be very, very blunt with you. We’ve spent £120billion supporting people, it’s a huge commitment and we have put our arms around people... But I think people need to recognise that the particular restrictions that furlough places on you are not, in the long term, healthy either for the economy or for you as an employee.’

His words will be a blow to those working in theatres who fear it may be next year before a vaccine allows them to return to normal business.

Mr Johnson continued: ‘You are keeping people in suspended animation... I am being absolutely frank with you, we are pushing it out until October, but in the end you have got to get the economy moving.’

Earlier this week, it was revealed the furlough bill had soared past £25billion, with more than 12million jobs now being propped up by the state. Costs from the JRS rose £2.6billion this week from £22.9billion the week before.

And the cost of the support scheme for self- employed workers rose to £7.7billion, across 2.6million claims.

Banks have also lent small businesses £29.5billion worth of 100 per cent state-backed loans, up about £1.5billion from the previous week. Larger firms have received £11.1billion from the Government’s main lending scheme.

But a string of firms have begun to announce job losses and cuts ahead of the winding down of the JRS.

And experts believe unemployment could hit 10 per cent following a 20 per cent contraction in the economy because of the lockdown.

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