LONDON: Britain on Thursday launched a coronavirus winter battle plan to protect jobs and boost the fragile economy, after surging infections sparked fresh nationwide measures to slow the spread. Finance minister Rishi Sunak unveiled his new jobs protection scheme that will support wages of staff keeping at least one-third of their usual working hours.
The plan, starting in November, does not however go as far as the furlough scheme ending next month that has paid out billions of pounds to support wages of some ten million workers.
"The next phase of our planned economic response" would "protect jobs and the economy over the winter period," Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak told parliament.
He decided to also prolong tax cuts for the hospitality and tourism sectors, while extending an income-support initiative for the self-employed.
"As I've said throughout this crisis, I cannot save every business," Sunak said as he announced the watered-down jobs scheme.
"I cannot save every job. No chancellor could."
Under the new scheme, the government and employers will together pay the salaries of workers kept in roles on reduced hours. To keep the UK economy alive and people in jobs during the pandemic, the government's furlough scheme has paid the bulk of wages earned by staff in full-time roles across the private sector.
Despite the new support, analysts warn that Britain still faces the possibility of surging unemployment as many businesses simply cannot afford to keep staff, even on reduced hours.
"These measures should help ease the pressure currently being felt by businesses and workers up and down the country," noted analyst Tom Selby at broker AJ Bell.
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