Rishi Sunak considers cutting furlough pay to 60 per cent of wages May 5, 2020 As part of a review of the job retention scheme, the government is reportedly considering cutting the 80 per cent wage subsidy to 60 per cent for furloughed staff. The job retention scheme sees the government pay 80 per cent of wages, up to £2,500 a month, to 6.3m furloughed workers. However, chancellor Rishi Sunak [...]
Coronavirus: What is the NHS contact-tracing app and how does it work? May 5, 2020 The eagerly-awaited NHS contact-tracing app has been rolled out for the first time today, with key workers on the Isle of Wight the first to trial the new technology. The smartphone app, which is available to healthcare and council workers from today and the rest of the island from Thursday, is expected to be rolled [...]
Rishi Sunak: No ‘cliff edge’ to job retention scheme May 5, 2020 Rishi Sunak has moved to assure people that “there will be no cliff edge” to the government’s job retention scheme, signalling that it could be extended past June for some workers. Sunak last night said he was “working to figure out the most effective way to wind down the scheme”, which is paying the wages [...]
Coronavirus: Global trust in government surges to record high May 5, 2020 Trust in governments around the world has soared to an all-time high since January as countries continued to battle the coronavirus crisis, according to the latest research. Government trust surged 11 points to a record high of 65 per cent, as populations looked to government to take the lead on all aspects of the coronavirus [...]
Michael Spencer: PM right not to seek Brexit trade deal extension May 5, 2020 City grandee Michael Spencer has urged the government not to extend the December deadline for a Brexit trade deal, saying the Prime Minister is right “to take a hard line on this.” The billionaire financier, who voted to remain in the EU, now believes that the UK is well-placed to secure a good deal and [...]
Coronavirus: NHS contact-tracing app trial launched on Isle of Wight May 5, 2020 A new NHS app designed to track the spread of coronavirus has been launched for some workers today as part of a trial on the Isle of Wight. Healthcare and council staff will be the first to test the contact-tracing app, with the rest of the island’s population able to join the trial from Thursday. [...]
Business groups welcome start of UK-US trade talks May 5, 2020 Business groups have welcomed the start of UK-US trade talks today, urging the government to concentrate on Britain’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in negotiations. International trade secretary Liz Truss will host a video conference call with US trade representative Robert Lighthizer today to signal the start of negotiations. The first round of talks [...]
Universal credit claims hit 1.8m during coronavirus crisis May 4, 2020 The British government received 1.8m Universal Credit benefits claims between 16 March and the end of April, work and pensions minister Therese Coffey said today. Universal Credit is paid to people in work as well as those who have lost their jobs. Coffey said the volume of claims was six times the normal rate and [...]
Coronavirus ‘test, track and trace’ app trial launches tomorrow May 4, 2020 The Isle of Wight will trial the UK’s coronavirus “test, track and trace” app from tomorrow, health secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed. Hancock said that health workers will begin to pilot the app on the island tomorrow, before extending it to all 140,000 islanders later this week. The health secretary said the app would supplement [...]
Lloyds boss: Coronavirus business loan scheme was ‘painful’ and ‘flawed’ when launched May 4, 2020 The launch of the government’s coronavirus business loan scheme was “painful” and “flawed”, according to one of the top bosses of Lloyds Bank. David Oldfield, group director and chief executive of commercial banking at Lloyds, said today that the government’s emergency loan scheme was “cumbersome and onerous” when it launched. He added that he still [...]