“It is clear the UK Government has lost control over the virus. This will only intensify its growing conflicts with regional and national governments, and the wider public at a time when fatigue and frustration begin to mount.”
Furlough scheme
As Scotland enters its new tiered system of restrictions today, England is getting prepared to dump it. Boris Johnson’s Saturday announcement of a four-week national lockdown, only for England, came about six weeks after his SAGE advisors had argued for a two-week circuit-breaker lockdown and he offered up the tiered system. What a mess. The […]
A second lockdown will be very different
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is hoping its third time lucky with his latest post-furlough scheme plans. First he argued that no replacement for the furlough scheme was needed on 1 November. Then, as pressure grew, at the end of September he proposed a “Job Support Scheme”, which was more like an unemployment creation scheme. Now, the original […]
Third time lucky? Sunak’s latest attempt to replace Furlough
The Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland has raised concerns that the end of the furlough scheme this month will increase the risk of evictions and homelessness, with the Job Support Scheme not providing a sufficient safety net.
Scotland Will “Never Forgive” End of Furlough Scheme Causing Homelessness
The title of what Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced yesterday, ‘Job Support Scheme’, flatters to deceive. The key thing to be aware of is that employers are being asked to pay one-third of the topping up of a worker’s wage who has been moved from full-time to part-time hours, which many of them are not going […]
Sunak’s ‘Job Support Scheme’ is a deception
Are you a ‘Kurzarbeit’ or a ‘chômage partiel’ person? UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak will make an important statement to the House of Commons this afternoon about what will replace the furlough scheme at the end of October, with debate rife about whether German or French models will be preferred, or something completely different altogether. The Kurzarbeit […]
Beyond furlough
A new report published by the Trussell Trust forecasts that the need for its services could increase by 61% – the equivalent of 6 food parcels given out every minute – with the furlough scheme coming to an end.
‘6 Food Parcels Given Out Every Minute’ Forecasts New Report
Some good news – kind of. The Royal Bank of Scotland’s latest Purchasing Managers’ Index report suggests things are starting to get built and sold again. A PMI rate above 50 suggests activity is expanding rather than contracting, and Scotland’s August PMI was 55.8, ahead of Northern Ireland and Wales but behind all English regions. […]
Scotland’s looming financial storm
We spoke to Excluded UK, an organisation that sprung up to support the 3 million people that have been excluded from government support during the Covid-19 pandemic.
3 Million People Excluded from Government Support
11 June is the final day for new applicants to be added to the UK Government’s furlough scheme. But a Tsunami of new job losses has arrived.