Sunak pledges no "cliff-edge" cut-off for furlough support
The scheme is currenly due to run until the end of June
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has promised there will be no "cliff-edge" cut-off to the Government's furlough scheme to support workers through the coronavirus outbreak.
The latest Government figures showed that 6.3 million workers were having up to 80% of their salaries paid by the Treasury at a cost of £8 billion to the taxpayer.
Speaking to ITV News, Mr Sunak acknowledged such a level of expenditure was not "sustainable" in the longer term.
He said the ministers were looking at ways to wind down the scheme - which is currently due to run to the end of June - and ease people back into work in a "measured way".
"To anyone anxious about this, I want to reassure that there will be no cliff-edge to the furlough scheme," he said.
"I'm working as we speak to figure out the most effective way to wind down the scheme and ease people back into work in a measured way.
"As some scenarios have suggested, we are potentially spending as much on the furlough scheme as we do on the NHS for example.
"Clearly that is not a sustainable situation which is why, as soon as the time is right, we want to get people back to work and the economy fired up again."
Published: by Radio NewsHub