Ed Miliband – 2020 Comments on the Job Support Scheme

The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 2 October 2020.

The Government presents the Job Support Scheme as a measure that will save jobs. But the facts tell a different story.

Struggling employers where work has reduced have zero incentive to keep staff on, with it still being significantly cheaper to sack 1 out of every 2 members of staff. Businesses won’t want to do this but the government is stacking the odds so it makes financial sense for them to do so. They’re essentially having to flip a coin to decide which person to lay off.

The hospitality sector is already at huge risk of redundancies, operating at reduced capacity and on a shrunken income, hit by a 10pm curfew, and approaching a bleak Christmas season.

Ultimately, the government has decided to accept mass unemployment in certain sectors – they have decided it is a price worth paying. It is the wrong choice for business, workers and our whole economy and society.