700,000 jobs lost
Labour leader says Government must act now to avert looming unemployment surge
KEIR Starmer has demanded Government action now to prevent a looming crisis after 695,000 workers lost their jobs since March. The Labour leader insisted Boris Johnson come up with a plan to protect jobs after he and Chancellor Rishi Sunak refused to extend the furlough scheme. Young people have borne the greatest impact of coronavirus on employment. There was a record 146,000 drop in 16 to 24-year-olds in work in the three months to July, accordoing to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Starmer wants to see incentives for employers to cut people’s hours rather than jobs, and training and support for those who cannot come back full-time. He added:
“At this moment of national cri si s we should take inspiration from our past. Be willing to put party differences aside and work together in the interest of the country.
“Imagine how powerful it would be if we could form a genuine national plan to protect jobs, create new ones and invest in skills and training?”
There were 156,000 job losses over the three months to July, the biggest rise since 2009, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Unemployment is now 4.1 per cent, with 1.4million out of work, but that is predicted to soar once the job retention scheme ends on October 31.
More than three million people are still on furlough.
In Scotland, unemployment rose between May and July by 128,000, according to the ONS. At 4.6 per cent, the total was higher than the UK rate of 4.1 per cent.
But the proportion of people in employment also rose marginally to 74.3 per cent.
Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, has warned Johnson to act before the “redundancy floodgates” open while TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Ministers must protect and create jobs.”
Scotland’s Business Minister Jamie Hepburn repeated calls for the furlough scheme to be extended.
Sunak said yesterday: “We were clear we couldn’t save every job.”
He also refused to rule out tax rises this year.