Furlough announcement creates further uncertainty
Responding to the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the furlough scheme this afternoon, Scottish Greens Co-Leader Patrick Harvie MSP said:
“While I welcome the Chancellor’s huge U-turn on furlough, backing down from suggestions that he would immediately lower the rate of these essential payments, his announcement today will create further uncertainty and anxieties.
“We’re told that the furlough scheme will continue until October, but that the current rate is only guaranteed until July. Many workers already struggling to get by on 100% of the minimum wage, let alone the 80% they are currently receiving, now face the prospect of this level reducing further. Workers need security at a time of crisis, and the UK Government’s patchwork approach simply hasn’t provided that.
“The Prime Minister claims his government is led by the science, but its actions this week have made it clearer than ever that it is happy to put economic growth before lives.“