Call for chancellor to step back from “cliff edge” with furlough scheme
Inverclyde Council Leader has called on the UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, MP, to extend the furlough scheme to support business in the area.
The call comes as the Chancellor visits Inverclyde as part of his trip to Scotland.
Councillor Stephen McCabe said: “I welcome the Chancellor’s visit to Inverclyde and hope he got a flavour of the strong business community we have but recongises that the easing of lockdown has not removed the pressure on business. The furlough scheme and the full range of support for business right across the UK has been without comparison in our lifetime. The danger business have now is that they are coming to a cliff edge when the scheme ends in October.”
“No one is in the clear with this virus as the local outbreak in Port Glasgow and the area-wide lockdowns in Aberdeen and other parts of the UK show. While public health and the safety of our community is always going to be the priority there also needs to be more recognition that businesses across Inverclyde and the rest of the country need to have confidence we have their back going forward.”
“If local lockdowns and outbreaks are the new normal, as a community we will cope with them with the right information clearly communicated and the right support in place for the community, for business and for individuals. That will be for nothing if the burden falls onto businesses and workers. Companies face having to close with little notice or to plan for the possibility of closing with little notice while still trying to operate and complying with social and physical distancing. The Chancellor needs to take the ongoing pressure on business into account in tailoring business support and avoid our businesses going over a cliff edge when the UK-wide furlough scheme ends.”