Business, trade unions and senior Tories have urged Rishi Sunak swiftly to deliver a massive package of wage subsidies and tax cuts as the coronavirus pandemic threatens millions of jobs, with swaths of companies facing imminent ruin.
The chancellor is expected to announce “unprecedented” measures to support companies and their employees on Friday, in addition to this week’s promise of £20bn of direct support for business and a £330bn loan guarantee scheme.
Boris Johnson said he hoped Mr Sunak would have a “great package ready to go” and vowed that the government would prioritise help for those people worst affected, arguing that in the financial crisis of 2008 the banks appeared to have more state protection than ordinary workers.