Chancellor Rishi Sunak promises wage bailout for workers hardest hit by coronavirus by the end of the week

RISHI Sunak last night promised a wage bailout for workers hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis by the end of the week, but pressure spiralled on him to act sooner.

The Chancellor told MPs he was working on a plan that would underwrite wage costs for staff below a certain salary threshold in the hospitality, travel and leisure sectors.

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And he also refused to rule out adopting proposals put forward by business groups calling for “reverse National Insurance” payments that would see firms get money for employing people rather than paying job taxes.

Asked about the proposal by the Commons Treasury committee yesterday, Mr Sunak said: "We are looking at all potential measures to meet the objectives that we set which are to provide cash flow support to businesses and fundamentally to try and preserve employment and productive capacity in the economy."

But he said he was working on employment support measures that can be implemented “as quickly as possible” and will be “as targeted as possible” to ensure those most in need receive the money first.

Pumping money into a large company that isn’t significantly affected by the virus would be a waste of resources, the Chancellor said.

Instead the Government was looking at targeting workers in the leisure, hospitality and travel sectors, which are the hardest hit by the virus.

But he acknowledged the larger the economic threat of the virus, the more a macro-level approach would be needed.

KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON

Meanwhile Britain's energy suppliers have joined with the Government to launch an emergency package which ensures that vulnerable customers are able to keep the lights on through the coronavirus crisis.

Customers with pre-payment metres who are unable to leave their house can now speak to their supplier to get other options.

EE, O2, Three and Vodafone have all agreed to let customers go to //www.nhs.uk and 111.nhs.uk without any data costs.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the initiative was designed to ensure that everyone could get verified and up-to-date NHS information and advice on the Covid-19 outbreak.

Free access to online NHS services will be available for as long as Covid-19 is prevalent in the UK, the department said.

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