Furlough support to end in October

SUPPORT for furloughed workers will not be extended beyond October, Boris Johnson has insisted.

The Prime Minister said continuing the taxpayer subsidy to firms after that deadline would be “unhealthy” for the economy.

He said: “I have got to be very, very blunt with you – we have spent £120billion supporting people.

“You are keeping people in suspended animation and you are stopping them from actually working.

“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.”

More than nine million employees in more than a million firms are being paid by the Government.

By the end of last month the scheme had cost £25.5billion.

But despite preparing to ditch the safety net Mr Johnson promised the Government would do everything possible to protect jobs.

Detail

He added: “People are very worried about their jobs and we are unfortunately starting to see job losses. You’ve got to act with great urgency and you’ve got to plan.

“We’re going to do amazing things – we’re going to build, build, build and invest massively in our country.

“But I think people need to recognise that the particular restrictions that furlough places on you are not, in the long term, healthy for the economy or for employees.”

Mr Johnson and Chanceller Rishi Sunak will detail the Government’s measures in the Commons next week.

But today they will face demands from Labour for an emergency “backto-work” budget.

In her first keynote speech as shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds will call on the Government to target help on struggling sectors.

She is expected to say: “The reward for months of sacrifice cannot be a redundancy notice.”