Furlough scheme extended to end of March at 80% pay, Rishi Sunak announces

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Mr Sunak’s opposite number Anneliese Dodds, however, urged him to apologise to workers already made redundant before the eleventh-hour changes to the scheme and criticised the government’s delay in implementing restrictions recommended by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies that had “cost lives and livelihoods”. Referring to ministers’ previous refusal to extend the furlough scheme, she asked: “How many jobs could have been saved if this government had recognised reality and let businesses plan for the future? “The extension of the furlough scheme will help to protect millions of workers’ incomes in the tough months ahead. Too much of the £7.3bn scheme is being wasted on workers who didn’t need any help, while it offers nothing for close to 500,000 self-employed workers who have no work at all.” While welcoming the chancellor’s announcement, the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank said many families across the country will still face significant financial hardships.