PM warns of ‘bumpy months’ as UK set to plunge into recession

BORIS JOHNSON yesterday said the British economy faced more “bumpy months” ahead following the latest increase in job losses.

The Prime Minister said the UK had a “long, long way to go” until it saw a return to “economic vitality and health”.

Today’s GDP figure is expected to show the UK officially falling into recession for the first time since the financial crash.

It comes after the Office for National Statistics said about 730,000 jobs had been lost since March, based on pay-as-you-earn data.

Speaking hours after the ONS report, Mr Johnson said yesterday: “We always knew that this was going to be a very tough time for people.”

He added: “What we are going to have to do is to keep going with our plan to ‘build, build, build’, and build back better, and ensure that we make the colossal investments that we can now make in the UK economy to drive jobs and growth.”

Meanwhile, pressure continued to mount on Rishi Sunak to extend the furlough scheme beyond October.

The Chancellor has repeatedly ruled out extending the Job Retention Scheme, which has supported 9.6 million workers and cost the taxpayer £34.7billion to date.

The Treasury has been warned that ending it in October could see unemployment rising to nearly 10 per cent. Last week Mr Sunak said the scheme could not go on “indefinitely”, although he did not rule out extending support in the event of a second wave of the virus.

Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, called for Mr Sunak to “act now and stop his damaging one-sizefits-all withdrawal of wage support”.

She said: “Make no mistake: the UK is now mired in a jobs crisis the like of which we haven’t seen in decades.”

The British Chambers of Commerce yesterday called for a “significant expansion of the Employment Allowance and a cut in employer National Insurance contributions”.

Suren Thiru, the BCC’S head of economics, said: “Unemployment is likely to surge as the government support schemes wind down, unless action is taken.

“A significant spike in job losses would be a major drag on any recovery.” Business: Page 1