Government accused of ‘contempt’ for North after furlough extension
Politicians have accused the government of showing “contempt” for leaders in the North of England after announcing a national lockdown and extension of the furlough scheme. Politicians in the North West had called for 80% furlough payments for employees of businesses forced to close when areas were put into Tier 3 restrictions, but instead workers were offered 67% of pay through the government’s Job Support Scheme.
“Crisis of confidence”
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson told BBC Breakfast that he, along with members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), had called for a lockdown in September. Anderson, whose brother Bill died after contracting coronavirus last month, said:
I think there’s now a crisis of confidence in relation to this Government and their ability to actually manage this.
It’s clear to me that the Government made the choice to put people’s health and the health concerns of the nation second and listen to Tory right-wing MPs and people arguing about the economy.
I think as a result of that it’s very, very clear that thousands of people have died.
Read on...
No matter what @BorisJohnson says, it has been he&he alone that ignored experts like SAGE who advised on 21/09 the need for a “Circuit Breaker Lockdown” he has to take responsibility for the increase in infections and resulting deaths. The exit strategy has to be him resigning.
— Joe Anderson (@mayor_anderson) October 31, 2020
The Liverpool City Region was the first area in the country to become subject to the Tier 3 restrictions on 14 October.
Anderson added:
It’s interesting as well, isn’t it, that of course yesterday evening they announced that the furlough scheme would return at 80%, something that Andy Burnham, Steve Rotheram, leaders of the North, myself included, have been calling for.
That’s the point about contempt… that they dismissed the North’s call for the furlough scheme to be introduced in Tier 3 but now have all of a sudden found the 80% furlough scheme for a Tier 4 or national lockdown.
Glad that the Government have finally done the right thing and maintained the 80% furlough – not the 67% they were offering Tier 3 areas across the North.
Now we know for sure that the Government thinks workers in the North were worth 13% less than those in the South. https://t.co/7ybFAXaM14
— Steve Rotheram (@MetroMayorSteve) October 31, 2020
The people will remember
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, who battled with the government on funding when the area was placed into Tier 3, reacted to news of the furlough scheme extension on Twitter on 31 October.
Responding to a tweet by chancellor Rishi Sunak, Burnham said:
But when we asked you to do that for the lowest-paid people in the North, you refused. People here will remember that.
Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram tweeted:
Now we know for sure that the government thinks workers in the North were worth 13% less than those in the South.
We need your help to keep speaking the truth
Every story that you have come to us with; each injustice you have asked us to investigate; every campaign we have fought; each of your unheard voices we amplified; we do this for you. We are making a difference on your behalf.
Our fight is your fight. You’ve supported our collective struggle every time you gave us a like; and every time you shared our work across social media. Now we need you to support us with a monthly donation.
We have published nearly 2,000 articles and over 50 films in 2021. And we want to do this and more in 2022 but we don’t have enough money to go on at this pace. So, if you value our work and want us to continue then please join us and be part of The Canary family.
In return, you get:
* Advert free reading experience
* Quarterly group video call with the Editor-in-Chief
* Behind the scenes monthly e-newsletter
* 20% discount in our shop
Almost all of our spending goes to the people who make The Canary’s content. So your contribution directly supports our writers and enables us to continue to do what we do: speaking truth, powered by you. We have weathered many attempts to shut us down and silence our vital opposition to an increasingly fascist government and right-wing mainstream media.
With your help we can continue:
* Holding political and state power to account
* Advocating for the people the system marginalises
* Being a media outlet that upholds the highest standards
* Campaigning on the issues others won’t
* Putting your lives central to everything we do
We are a drop of truth in an ocean of deceit. But we can’t do this without your support. So please, can you help us continue the fight?
-
Show Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to leave a comment.Join the conversationPlease read our comment moderation policy here.
“13% less”?
Priti would correct you by adding a nought on the end of that.