Ian Blackford urges furlough extension to stop tsunami of unemployment

Ian Blackford has urged the Prime Minister to prevent a “tsunami of unemployment” and extend the furlough scheme.

Ian Blackford speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London.

Speaking at Prime Ministers Questions, the SNP Westminster leader warned ending the scheme would be a disaster for workers all over the United Kingdom.

In a spat that saw him warn of a “Tory winter crisis”, Mr Blackford called for Boris Johnson to stop “boasting” and act.

He said: “The founder of Brewdog has warned the ending of the job retention scheme will lead to a tsunami of unemployment.

“Brewdog is just one of thousands of businesses across Scotland and the UK demanding the UK government u-turn on it’s reckless decision to scrap the furlough scheme.

“Prime minister, in the next fortnight you have two choices, extend the full furlough scheme or inflict a tsunami of unemployment on our people this winter.”

His comments came after the Brewdog owner James Watt made his own plea to the PM to extend the furlough scheme.

Mr Johnson and his Chancellor Rishi Sunak have repeatedly refused to extend the furlough scheme, which saw 80 per cent of people’s wages paid for by the Government.

With the scheme now scrapped, the Chancellor earlier this month unveiled the “next phase” of his economic plan with the “Jobs support scheme”.

Furloughed employees who go back to work for a third of their hours can have their wages subsidised for the next six months.

The SNP has insisted this does not go far enough, with the Office for National Statistics this week revealing the UK unemployment rate grew to a three year high of 4.5 per cent in the three months to August.

Responding, Mr Johnson insisted support was already in place.

He said: “The chancellor has already unveiled the job support system, which will go through to next year.

“For those on low incomes, they will also have access to universal credit.”

Despite disagreeing over the furlough scheme, Mr Johnson praised the SNP for supporting his new tier system to coronavirus restrictions.

He added: “At least they are showing some vestige of consistency in their normal gelatinous behaviour.”

Earlier today it was revealed Mr Blackford has written to the Chancellor over his concerns, and also demanded the £20 uplift to Universal Credit become permanent.