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'Mother of all bailouts' as government vows to pay 80% of wages for employees not working

 Chancellor Rishi Sunak speaking at a previous media briefing in Downing Street, London, on Coronavirus (COVID-19). Picture by Matt Dunham/PA Wire
 Chancellor Rishi Sunak speaking at a previous media briefing in Downing Street, London, on Coronavirus (COVID-19). Picture by Matt Dunham/PA Wire  Chancellor Rishi Sunak speaking at a previous media briefing in Downing Street, London, on Coronavirus (COVID-19). Picture by Matt Dunham/PA Wire

British Chancellor Rushi Sunak has announced he is establishing a coronavirus job protection scheme to help employers hit by the outbreak.

He said that they would be able to apply to HM Revenue and Customs to cover 80% of the wages of staff they keep on up to £2,500 a month.

Wages will be backdated to March 1 and will be open before the end of April and run for at least three months.

Mr Sunak said "our planned economic response will be one of the most comprehensive in the world".

He added: "To all those at home, right now anxious about the days ahead, I say you will not face this alone."

It followed criticism that his £350 billion emergency support package for the economy earlier this week concentrated on businesses but did little for their staff.

The announcement came after scientists advising the British government warned that restrictions to control the spread of the virus will need to be in place for most of a year - at least.

The Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling said while the severity of measures could fluctuate, "stricter" measures would need to be enforced for at least half of the year in order to keep cases at a level the NHS can cope with.

These could include school closures and social distancing for everyone, while less restrictive measures include isolating cases and households.

“I am placing no limit on the amount of funding available for the scheme. We will pay grants to support as many jobs as necessary.

“To meet our commitment to that effort, I am today announcing a combination of measures unprecedented for a government of this nation.”

The Chancellor said HMRC was working night and day to get the scheme up and running and he expected the first grants to be paid within weeks, adding: “We’re aiming to get it done before the end of April.”

The Government is launching a major national advertising campaign in the next few days to communicate the available support for businesses and people.

In an appeal to businesses, the Chancellor said: “Please look very carefully at that support before making decisions to lay people off.

“We are starting a great national effort to protect jobs, but the truth is we are already seeing job losses, and there may be more to come.

“I cannot promise you that no one will face hardship in the weeks ahead.”

Unions welcomed the measures, described by Unite leader Len McCluskey as “historic, bold and very much necessary.”

Other union leaders warned that workers had already lost their jobs, and others will suffer hardship, even on 80% of their wages.

Paddy Lillis, general secretary of the shopworkers’ union Usdaw, said: “There are many workers, particularly in retail, who are contracted for fairly few hours each week, but regularly work many more to make a weekly wage they can live on.

“These short-hours contract workers rely on this regular additional money, so for their income to be drastically reduced to 80% of contract pay will put them in real hardship.”