Think again on furlough, Bank of England tells Rishi

THE Governor of the Bank of England last night piled pressure on Rishi Sunak to provide more help for businesses hit by the latest Covid restrictions.

In a rare political intervention, Andrew Bailey asked the Chancellor to ‘rethink’ the furlough scheme, which is due to finish at the end of next month.

Mr Bailey has previously backed the decision to bring the £ 0billion job subsidy scheme to an end. But addressing

a British Chambers of Commerce event yesterday, Mr Bailey said some sectors will need more help as the scheme ends.

He said he did not want to ‘tie the Chancellor’s hands’ by offering a specific remedy.

He said ‘we’ve moved from a world of generalised employment protection’ to ‘focused areas,’ so a blanket scheme was no longer needed – but that it was time to ‘stop and rethink the approach going forward’.

In the Commons yesterday, Boris Johnson hinted that Mr Sunak was preparing new assistance for the hardest-hit sectors, and said the Government would do ‘everything we can to protect lives and livelihoods’.

Labour yesterday stepped up its call for the scheme to be extended – something Mr Johnson and the Chancellor have repeatedly ruled out.

In its current form, the scheme pays 80 per cent of the wages of those signed up. But with the restrictions now likely to last months, some Tories also urged the PM to come forward with more financial support.