U.K. ‘Open-Minded’ About Extending Pandemic Furlough, Gove Says
- Scotland’s Sturgeon wants wage support to run past September
- Johnson meets Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland leaders on Thursday
Michael Gove
Photographer: Hollie Adams/Getty Images
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The U.K. government is “open-minded” about extending its pandemic furlough program, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said ahead of a meeting with Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon, who wants the wage support policy to run beyond its current September expiry date.
During the Covid-19 outbreak, the U.K. has funded employers to keep staff on their books, with the government underwriting as much as 80% of the wage bill. The program’s scale surprised economists, supporting 11.5 million jobs at various times during the pandemic and preventing mass unemployment.