Rishi Sunak's Germany-Lite Jobs Plan Has a Few Holes
It's good that Boris Johnson's government will still offer some kind of job support. But Britain’s labor market is very different to the continent’s.
No U-turns here.
Photographer: Leon Neal/Getty Images EuropeBack in March Boris Johnson promised that his government would put its arms around every single British worker. On Thursday, his Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak signaled that the embrace is now over, although at least he hasn’t replaced it with a cold shoulder.
It’s been obvious for a while that the Covid-19 economic crisis won’t be over by Halloween, when the U.K.’s successful furlough program is due to end. Many called for the program to be extended, as France and Germany have done, or at least tailored to help struggling sectors such as travel and hospitality and preserve what Sunak has called “the dignity of work.”