UK vows new pandemic support for workersBritain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi SunakMANCHESTER (UNITED KINGDOM) - Britain's government was set Monday to announce new support for pandemic-hit workers after coming under attack for ending a furlough scheme that kept millions in jobs. Finance minister Rishi Sunak will announce a pound sterling500 million ($680 million, 580 million euro) package of retraining aimed at older workers coming off furlough and at younger Britons, the ruling Conservative party said. But Sunak ended the furlough scheme on Thursday, and is also scrapping a weekly boost to benefits for the lowest-paid workers. Businesses blame the driver shortage on the government's hardline approach to Brexit, which stopped a flow of workers from eastern Europe, but ministers say the pandemic is to blame. "If I can possibly avoid it, I do not want to raise taxes again, of course not, nor does Rishi Sunak," Johnson told the BBC.

Source: Bangkok Post October 03, 2021 22:07 UTC