Rishi Sunak spends an additional £ 8bn on a new permit paying MORE salaries to save pubs and restaurants

RISHI Sunak has revealed a new bumper license package today that will pay even more wages to save the nation’s drinkers and restaurants, squandering an additional £ 8 billion.

The chancellor unveiled new support for companies to help them keep staff by paying more of their salaries, and more grants for restaurants and pubs that can stay open but are being hit hard by the curfew and domestic mixing bans.

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In his fourth economic statement in a month, he told MPs this morning that he would make the new Labor Support Plan much more generous for businesses that can stay open by increasing support from the state.

At the moment, only Tier 3 businesses that are ordered to close, such as pubs that don’t serve food, can claim up to two-thirds of their staff’s unworked wages under a local licensing scheme.

But now the program, which will launch on November 1, will allow all companies in the country that are still open to receive similar help.

Employees only need to work 20 percent of their hours instead of a third, which will be a huge relief to employers.

Businesses will have to pay only 5 percent of the hours not worked, in addition to the hours their staff is working anyway.

It means that someone who works only one day in five, or 20 percent of their normal hours, can receive up to 73.33 percent of their total salary. If they work longer hours, they will get more pay.

And it revealed huge new grants of up to £ 2,100 for hospitality businesses staying open at levels 2 and 3 facing the most stringent restrictions, which may be dated earlier until August, as many have been under new rules for months.

Companies can already claim up to £ 1,500 every two weeks if ordered to close.

The prime minister and the chancellor will hold a press conference later today to explain the new support to the public.

The total new package of measures, which will start from November and will likely last at least six months, is expected to total more than £ 13bn.

Around £ 8bn of new aid was announced today.

Today the Chancellor announced:

• The Employment Support Plan that replaces the End-of-Month Leave Plan becomes more generous
• Workers must work a minimum of 20 percent of the hours to receive assistance.
• Businesses will pay only 5 percent of wages, compared to 55 percent
• Freelance grants raised up to £ 3,750
• New grants for companies in high alert areas at levels 2 and 3

The new grant scheme will cost £ 200 million a month for England, and the self-employed scheme around £ 3.1 billion.

The new Employment Support Program, which replaces the license, will be between £ 1bn and £ 2bn a month.

But Sunak warned that the nation must “keep an eye on the future” and “be careful not to mortgage the future of our children” with endless support packages to tackle the virus.

The Chancellor said today to the broad swaths of the nation under Tier 3 rules that he understands their frustration and that “this is not forever.”

“These are temporary restrictions to help control the spread of the virus,” he added.

However, “difficult days and weeks” would come, but “we will get through it together. People are not alone.”

He stressed: “We have an economic plan that will protect the jobs and livelihoods of the British people wherever they live and whatever their situation.”

Defending the controversial and confusing tier system, he said: “As we have done during this crisis, we will listen and respond to people’s concerns as the situation requires.

“And I do not apologize for responding to the changing circumstances, so today we go further.”

Hotel businesses in Level 2 areas have seen their trade fall off a cliff due to a ban on people from meeting different households in all enclosed places, as well as the 10pm curfew.

They have been crying out for additional help and support from the government to help them deal with the loss of income.

And with more and more areas falling to the ‘high’ alert level like London last week, the Chancellor has concluded that more financial support is needed.

R WE ARE STILL THERE

At a press conference this afternoon, the prime minister said that the R rate, believed to be between 1.3 and 1.5, was about half of what it would be if there were no rules and restrictions imposed on the country.

The prime minister said today: “There are clear signs that our collective actions are working.”

He stated that the R rate was above one “but thanks to the efforts of people of all ages to follow the guidance and rules, the R is about half its natural rate” if the virus is allowed to run. freely.

However, due to the delay in reporting cases and infections, R’s rate is still about three weeks behind today’s data.

The prime minister said again today that he will not accept arguments to stop all restrictions and rules because “we would face thousands more deaths” and we could not isolate the vulnerable.

“An uncontrolled expansion in NHS patients would mean that the NHS would have even less capacity to treat heart and cancer patients,” he warned.

“That is why we reject the fair laissez approach.”

His words came when Patrick Vallance said that the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine could be available BEFORE Christmas, but Boris insisted that “we cannot trust” to find one.

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The companies appreciated the additional help provided today.

Mike Cherry OBE, National President of the Small Business Federation, said: “This is a welcome intervention that will help protect more jobs and small businesses, as well as self-employed traders, during the tough winter months.

“Measures to combat Covid-19 make this a difficult time for many small businesses, but we are determined to do so. These measures will help make that happen.”

And Kate Nicholls of UK Hospitality, which represents pubs and restaurants across the country, said it would “make a big difference” in job savings.

He added: “It is fantastic that the Chancellor has listened to our concerns and those of the hospitality companies.

“We have been hit harder than any other sector and this enhanced support will be crucial to ensure that companies stay afloat and jobs stay safe.”

But before that, Andy Burnham criticized the government for only introducing extra aid now that London has been hit, despite Manchester being under stricter rules for months.

In a withering judgment of the news, there would be additional financial aid, Mr Burnham told MPs today: “I think there are important questions that the government must answer.”

“It feels like dividing and ruling, making a rule for one and an approach for another, and that’s the worst way to handle things in a pandemic.”

He said: “I’m really struggling with this (Mr. Sunak’s ad), not because I’m envious of people who work in restaurants and pubs in London, of course not, but why now?

“Why has London been needed to move to Tier 2 for Tier 2 support to become a national issue?

“That is the question that everyone has to answer.”

Boris warned the nation that the coming winter “is not going to be easy.”

He told the Great Northern Conference: “I have to be honest with you, this winter is not going to be easy, but I am sure that the people of the North of England will face this crisis with the strength and selflessness that we have seen.”

He promised that the government would be with the North “every step of the way.”

£ 5bn in business support loans have been offered in the North West, £ 1.4bn in the Northeast and £ 3.3bn in Yorkshire and the Humber.

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