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Nicola Sturgeon has asked for clarity on whether the license plan will be extended beyond December 2 in Scotland if necessary.
Scotland’s prime minister made the call after Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News’s Kay Burley that it would be a decision for the chancellor after the national lockdown in England ended in early December.
The day before, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that if other parts of the UK needed to take action that required the licensing plan, it would be available to them “not just now, but of course also in the future.”
But less than 24 hours later Mr Jenrick said: ‘What we have said is that we will continue to say that the licensing scheme is for the whole of the UK.
“It was always across the UK and we want it to continue to be so in the future.
“So if it is necessary to be unemployed again, then that is for the chancellor to look at.
“But today, everyone in the UK can be sure that the 80% license will be available until December 2.”
When asked if the licensing scheme will extend to Scotland beyond that, he said: “That is a decision the chancellor will have to make.”
Robert Jenrick said the chancellor would have to make a decision on whether the license extends beyond Dec. 2.
Ian Blackford, leader of the SNP in the House of Commons, said that it is right that businesses and communities in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales receive the same support as England.
He told Sky News: “I asked the prime minister a very simple question yesterday if the Scottish government would do it and his first answer was simply ‘yes’.
“He endorsed that with other MPs, but there seems to be real confusion with other MPs in London.
“This is not acceptable because governments have to make public health decisions based on scientific advice, they need to know that if they do, the financial support that people need will be there.”
“What we are getting from Jenrick, is it true that businesses in England will be protected, but will we have to see if the same can be extended to other parts of the UK?
“It really shows that this is done to suit people in London and the south of England.”
