Furlough failing those on minimum wage
Responding to reports that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has extended the furlough scheme until the end of April, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie MSP said:
“The Chancellor needs to commit to a minimum wage floor for furlough payments now. Asking people who already struggle to get by on the minimum wage to live on 80% of that is simply contemptible. Many of those low paid workers have also lost out on the regular tips which they would use to supplement their income, particularly at this time of the year.
“The chaos that this crisis has brought, and the UK Government’s mishandling of it, has only strengthened the case for the introduction of a universal basic income. Every single person in our society deserves that financial safety net.”