Rishi Sunak weighs up German-style wage subsidies to replace furlough scheme
Exclusive: option part of wider emergency package to help firms through second wave of Covid-19
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is weighing up plans to replace the furlough scheme with German-style wage subsidies as part of a wider emergency support package to help businesses through a second wave of Covid-19.
Sources from business and industry told the Guardian that the Treasury has been consulting on options for the end of the furlough scheme as concerns mount over increasing numbers of job losses, and as rising infections and tougher restrictions risk derailing Britain's economic fightback from the pandemic.
Related: Germany is right to extend its furlough scheme. Why won't Britain do the same? | Peter Kuras
Related: Ending furlough is a catastrophic mistake: we should be cutting hours, not people | Clare McNeil
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