Furlough could be extended beyond September, hints Michael Gove

0
88

FURLOUGH could be extended beyond September, Michael Gove hinted today ahead of a crunch summit with UK leaders.

The Cabinet Minister said the Government was “open-minded” about continuing to pay part of people’s wages into the autumn.

Michael Gove hinted furlough could be extended

More than £64billion has been splurged on preventing a jobs bloodbath during lockdown – and today the ONS revealed the number of people participating is at its lowest this year as the economy unlocks.

It is due to end in September but Nicola Sturgeon has called on Westminster to guarantee it will continue if needed.

She is expected to confront Mr Gove about it at a virtual Covid Recovery meeting of the devolved leaders today.

Mr Gove this morning opened the door to extending the scheme when grilled on the Government’s future support.

He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “We are open minded, yes. We’ll be spending more.

“We’ll be spending more on the NHS, we will be spending more on education, we will be spending more on criminal justice, because in all of these areas it is absolutely vital that we build back better.

“Extra funding for everyone will continue, and it is important we all learn from each other about how that money should be spent.”