U.K. Plans Rescue Package to Save Millions of Jobs

(Bloomberg) -- British workers will be given government help to make sure they do not lose their jobs in the coronavirus crisis, under plans to be announced on Friday.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out moves to support companies hit by the pandemic, after what officials described as very positive talks with business leaders and unions.

On Thursday, Johnson urged companies not to make workers redundant, despite facing financial difficulties as a result of the virus. “I say to businesses: stand by your employees, stand by your workers, because we will stand by you,” he told reporters in London.

Unlike after the 2008 the financial crisis, the government will not prioritize bail-outs for the biggest firms but instead will focus on saving the livelihoods of ordinary citizens, Johnson suggested. “This time will be different,” he said. “We’re going to really make sure to look after the people who suffer economic consequences of what we’re asking them, we’re going to look after the people first.”

The package of measures is likely to include support for wages, and will follow an unprecedented injection of support for the U.K. economy, as the pandemic ravages previously healthy businesses ranging from airlines to restaurants.

Earlier this week Sunak announced a 350 billion pound ($400 billion) package of loans, grants and tax breaks for companies, while the Bank of England cut interest rates to a record low.

In other developments:

• The government announced train services will be reduced as more people stay at home. The cuts will allow key workers to travel, while freight services will continue to move essential goods and supplies
• The government published a list of designated “key” sectors whose workers will be prioritized for places in schools that are shut to the rest of the country. These sectors include people working in health care, the food industry, utilities, communications, financial services, and transport.
• Brexit talks were dealt another blow when the U.K.’s chief negotiator David Frost went into isolation with symptoms of the virus.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the measures the Chancellor has already set out have helped businesses and he will announce “much more” on Friday. “It is only the financial heft of the state that can help people through this,” Hancock said on Friday in a BBC radio interview. “The only way to think about this is that it is a war against an invisible killer and that means we have to marshal the resources of the entire nation.”

Hancock also said that health regulators are writing to more than 65,000 former doctors and nurses to ask them to help deal with the outbreak. “Your NHS needs you now,” he said in a direct appeal to them.

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