Tories announce lavish new support scheme for businesses – after snubbing Manchester with a pittance
Stung: Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
Tory chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a new support package for English areas under Tier 2 Covid-19 restrictions in a move that seems time to snub Greater Manchester.
The north-west English area had been under Tier 2 restrictions until earlier this week, when Sunak’s government forced it into Tier 3 with a financial support package that has been vilified as punitive and unfair.
Now the BBC is reporting:
Rishi Sunak announced big changes to the Job Support Scheme (JSS) – set to replace furlough in November.
Businesses in tier two areas, particularly in the hospitality sector, had complained that they would be better off if they were under tier three restrictions.
Sunak delivered his announcement in the House of Commons:
It is clear that "open but struggling businesses require further support," says Chancellor Rishi Sunak
He says the government will give grants to hospitality businesses in tier 2 areas of up to £2,100 per month, backdated to Augusthttps://t.co/U5h1p15Vew pic.twitter.com/bDCoOKclTk
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) October 22, 2020
The government will make it easier for businesses that can stay open “to keep staff on, rather than make them redundant”, Chancellor Rishi Sunak says
He says changes to its short-time work scheme will help firms in all Covid tiers https://t.co/U5h1p15Vew pic.twitter.com/FMJQ8tzxxy
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) October 22, 2020
"We are doubling the next round of the self-employed income support [scheme] from 20% to 40% of people’s incomes. Increasing the maximum grant to £3,750”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveils additional support for businesses impacted by Covid-19 restrictionshttps://t.co/AVi6S4rqRk pic.twitter.com/ZI4UH5frxy
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) October 22, 2020
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was unimpressed – and even that usually-staunch supporter of the Tories, the BBC’s Laura Kuennsberg, had to agree that he made a fair point:
Perhaps not an unfair question…. govt was refusing to budge on giving GM an extra 5 million on Tues, when today's plan (surely) must have been in the mix
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) October 22, 2020
Burnham expanded on this in a TV interview:
“Hello? We’ve been under these restrictions for three months”
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham says he was left “open-mouthed" by reports Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to unveil more support for tier 2 businesses, "billed… for London and Birmingham"https://t.co/AVi6S4rqRk pic.twitter.com/KtB9NkSCQJ
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) October 22, 2020
Anthony Browne, the Tory MP appearing on the day’s edition of the BBC’s Politics Live, tried to justify the timing of the announcement:
#RishiSunak announces new deal to help people cope with #Covid19UK – days after no agreement with #AndyBurnham over #GreaterManchester because of the lack of such measures. "It takes time" to evolve these policies, says Tory on #PoliticsLive – so it could've been given to Burnham
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) October 22, 2020
If it takes time to evolve a policy change like that which Sunak announced in Parliament, then that means it would certainly have been under discussion when the talks with Burnham were taking place.
So it also follows that the Conservatives holding those discussions – like Robert Jenrick, who spewed such a lot of nonsense about it earlier in the week – deliberately failed to mention it to Burnham.
Why?
The only reason that I can see would be to corruptly engineer a financial disadvantage for the Labour-voting people of Greater Manchester.
Once again, it seems, the Conservatives are using the Covid-19 crisis for their own selfish political gain.
How utterly despicable.
I am glad to see that the £2,100 per month grant is retrospective and may be backdated to August 2.
I hope hospitality businesses in Greater Manchester use it to take as much as they can from Sunak and his twisted government.
Source: New government Covid scheme to pay up to half of wages – BBC News
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