Boris Johnson news – live: PM misses Rishi Sunak’s jobs announcement as No 10 denies rift with chancellor

Rishi Sunak’s job support measures not enough, businesses warn

Pubs, bars and nightclubs are among the businesses warning that the government’s new measures to support jobs will not be enough to prevent further closures and a surge in unemployment.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s plans for self-employed workers have also been described as “woefully inadequate”, leaving contractors facing a “dark winter ahead”.

Our business reporter, Ben Chapman, has the full story below:

Sunak defends ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ over coronavirus spike suggestions

Rishi Sunak has defended his Eat Out To Help Out scheme after suggestions that the policy could have contributed to the recent spike in coronavirus infections by encouraging people to visit restaurants.

“In terms of the spread of the virus, if you see what’s happening in our country, as you’ve heard from our scientific advisers, we’re following similar paths to other countries in Europe,” he said.

“So I think it’s probably simplistic to look at any one thing. What’s happening here is similar to what’s happening in many other countries.”

Mr Sunak added: “There are lots of things going on at the same time towards the last few weeks and as we get into a season for respiratory illnesses so there’s going to be lots of different factors at play as to why the virus is acting in the way it is.

“But more broadly I don’t think it’s the wrong thing for the government or indeed people to want to try and get their lives back to normal.”

‘Difficult’ decisions to be made over paying for support schemes, Sunak says

The chancellor has said there will be “difficult” decisions to be made in the future over how to pay for the latest package of emergency measures to protect jobs.

“Over time and as the economy recovers we absolutely need to have an eye on our public finances and to make sure that we are in a strong and sustainable position,” Rishi Sunak said.

He added that decisions taken by previous chancellors – an apparent reference to austerity measures since 2010 – had put the public finances in a position which would allow him to act.

“That’s what enabled me to react in this particular way, it reminds us of the importance of repairing public finances, having a strong economy, so that when problems like this come along you can throw a lot at them,” Mr Sunak said.

“But I will obviously have to make similar difficult decisions in the future as we get on a path back to sustainability, but right now the priority is supporting the economy, throwing everything we have got at protecting people’s jobs and that’s what I will continue to do.”

Sunak: ‘I can’t promise that everyone can go back to the job that they used to have’

Rishi Sunak has said he cannot promise that “everyone can go back to the job that they used to have” despite the support announced by the government today.

“We obviously can’t sustain the same level of things that we were doing at the beginning of this crisis, but nor would it be right to do so either, because the situation has evolved,” the chancellor said.

“This is now something we know is going to be a fact of our lives for a while to come and that means the economy is going to change and adapt.

“I can’t promise that everyone can go back to the job that they used to have.”

Mr Sunak said the government had set out a range of measures to help people find “a new future if the job that they used to have is not one that is going to be there for them now”.

However, he added that unemployment was likely to continue to rise, even with the latest emergency measures.

“I would be lying if I could try and give you precise numbers or time frames for what’s going to happen when,” he told a Downing Street press conference.

“Unemployment is already rising and will continue to rise – that’s a complete tragedy. We’ve already lost 700,000 jobs. Those people’s security is now under threat.”

‘Impossible’ to predict how many people will be supported by jobs scheme, Sunak says

Rishi Sunak has said it is “impossible” to predict how many people will be supported by the government’s new jobs scheme and declined to say which roles he thinks have now become unviable.

“It’s impossible for me to predict given the uncertainty of the exact shape of the labour market,” the chancellor told a Downing Street press conference.

“When we started the furlough scheme it surprised everybody, economic commentators alike, the scale of the take-up of that.

“My expectation and hope is that this new scheme will be able to benefit large numbers of people and help protect their jobs through the difficult winter months, especially as demand is depressed in their companies.”

He added: “It’s not for me to sit here and make pronouncements upon exactly what job is viable or not but what we do need to do is evolve our support now that we’re through the acute phase of the crisis.”

If you missed the chancellor’s statement earlier today, you can find it in full below:

Will Rishi Sunak’s new job support scheme be enough to avert mass unemployment?

Our economics editor, Ben Chu, has taken a look at how Rishi Sunak’s new Job Support Scheme compares to the furlough system it replaced.

Ben writes:

“Even before the latest restrictions, official forecasts were projecting a possibility of joblessness shooting up to 4 million by early next year as the furlough scheme ended. Will the new system help avert such a disaster for the jobs market? The answer is that it’s impossible to know for sure.”

You can read his full analysis below:

No 10 denies rift between Johnson and Sunak as PM stays away from jobs announcement

Downing Street has denied any rift between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak after the prime minister chose not to attend the announcement of the chancellor’s Winter Economy Plan.

Prime ministers traditionally sit alongside the chancellor in the Commons for budgets and mini-budgets to show support for the measures.

However, Mr Johnson chose to visit police recruits in Northamptonshire on Thursday instead while Mr Sunak delivered his statement, which replaced the autumn budget.

Our political editor, Andrew Woodcock, has the full story below:

Downing Street distances itself from defence secretary’s ‘illegal wars’ accusation

Downing Street has distanced itself from the defence secretary’s suggestion that UK military interventions under the last Labour government amounted to “illegal wars”.

In a heated debate in the Commons over the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill, Ben Wallace claimed “illegal wars” instigated by Labour contributed to a legal “mess” faced by British troops.

A spokesperson for Boris Johnson said on Thursday that the defence secretary had been expressing a “personal view” when he spoke at the despatch box.

Under then-prime minister Tony Blair, the UK entered into major military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq – with the latter being particularly controversial.

“There have been long-held views on this issue across the political spectrum and the defence secretary was giving his own personal view,” the prime minister’s spokesperson said.

“Neither the government nor the Chilcot inquiry expressed a view on whether or not the UK’s participation in the war was legal.”

Mr Wallace’s comments came during an exchange with John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, who accused the government of bringing in a “legal presumption against prosecution for torture, war crimes, for crimes against humanity”.

The defence secretary replied: “Much of the mess we are having to come and clean up today is because of your illegal wars, your events in the past… and to put up straw men and make wild allegations that are wholly inaccurate and disputed by much more learned people than him, I think it a disservice to our troops and is all about making an excuse for not supporting this Bill.”

Our reporter, Sabrina Barr, has put together a brief guide to the new Job Support Scheme below: