Yesterday Rishi Sunak announced the next stage of support for the economy to see us through a coronavirus winter and mitigate some of the job destruction inherent within Brexit. It seems to be a short term working subsidy. It is described in the Guardian in an article entitled, “Covid scheme: UK government to cover 22% of worker pay for six months”. It is also described by Richard Seymour with admirable economy,
Sunak still struggling to sublate the contradiction between epidemiological necessity, and the drive to reanimate British capitalism. What appears to be emerging is a combination of corporate statism and watered down herd immunity.
— Richard Seymour (@leninology) September 24, 2020
It's also unclear why employers would sign up to a scheme that entails them paying workers 55% wages for 33% hours. It's a bit like the job retention bonus, it doesn't make any sense on its own terms.
— Richard Seymour (@leninology) September 24, 2020
It’s weaknesses and that of its predecessor scheme, are commented on by Rebecca Long Bailey in this tweet and in its continuations,
1. Sadly nothing at all today from @rishisunak for over 3 million people and businesses excluded from support so far and no action to improve universal credit & sick pay to an amount people can actually survive on. @ForgottenPAYE @ExcludedUK @ForgottenLtd will be devastated today
— Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) September 24, 2020
I’d add that much of the so called Job Retention Scheme has been used to subsidise and trigger redundancy schemes. Just another form of corporate welfare. It should have been so much better, but we can’t expect that from a Tory government.