WINTER ECONOMY PLAN – PRESS CONFERENCE OPENING STATEMENT BY THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

Good afternoon.

I’ve just come back from Parliament where I’ve announced the next phase of our economic support – my main message today is this: our economic plan is evolving because the situation is evolving.

In March, we hoped we were facing a temporary period of disruption. What’s now clear, as the Prime Minister and our scientific advisers have said, is that for at least the next six months, the virus and restrictions are going to be a fact of our lives.

So as our economy and labour market adapts and evolves to this new normal, our plan needs to adapt and evolve as well.

What does this mean in practice? Well, today I’ve announced five new measures.

We’re protecting jobs through the new Jobs Support Scheme. The government will directly support the wages of people in work, giving businesses who face depressed demand through the difficult winter months the option of keeping employees in a job on shorter hours, rather than making them redundant. We’re also extending the self-employed scheme to sit alongside that.

And I’ve announced a range of measures to ease cash flow concerns for businesses – allowing them to focus on protecting jobs. Pay As You Grow will ease the repayment terms for Bounce Back Loans; we’re giving people more time to pay back their deferred taxes; and I’m cancelling the planned increase in VAT for hospitality and tourism through to the end of March.

I know people are anxious and afraid right now, but I want them to know that we have a plan to protect jobs and support businesses, and what was true at the beginning of this crisis remains true - it’s on all of us to get through this together.