Businesses will be supported with new state funding, including a potential return to furlough, if Boris Johnson brings in a further lockdown, it has been reported.
MPs will vote today on whether England will go ahead with further restrictions. Boris Johnson is expected to face the largest rebellion of his premiership as MPs from his own party plan to vote against proposals for mandatory mask wearing, daily testing, certification, vaccine passports and mandatory vaccinations for NHS staff.
In Wales, the First Minister has said there will be weekly reviews to consider the impact of the Omicron variant and today Wales’ health minister Eluned Morgan will give a press conference. You can read the latest news from Wales this morning here. It comes as Wales’ chief medical officer has warned there could need to be curbs on the numbers of people meeting before Christmas.
The furlough scheme, which met the cost of salaries when businesses were forced to close, ended in September and had a cost of almost £70bn. The scheme was in operation across all the devolved nations. Welsh Government has been clear that without such a scheme, it could not go ahead with lockdowns. It previously clashed with the UK government last autumn when it wanted to bring in a firebreak lockdown but was limited on its timing as Westminster controlled furlough.
Read more: Furlough ‘could return’ if businesses forced to close again – Treasury official
