Plus, the Australians locked out of their country
   
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By Andrew McFarlane

 
 

Uncertainty for those 'forgotten' by job support scheme

 
 
A pub in London's Soho district on 23 September 2020, the day new restrictions were announced

The government's new Job Support Scheme arrived with a health warning from Chancellor Rishi Sunak. "I cannot save every business; I cannot save every job," he said. The furlough replacement will only benefit those in "viable" jobs, with taxpayers' cash helping top up the wages of those who work at least a third of their hours. And it means uncertainty for many, particularly in industries currently closed. One nightclub boss tells us his company has been forced into an "unviable" situation by government orders. And Michael Kill, who runs the Night Time Industries Association, argues: "To completely exile the entire night-time sector is simply unacceptable."

"I've worked in hospitality since I was 16 - but now it is terrifying," furloughed hotel worker Lisa tells us. She'd been hoping to get back to work in October, as companies began booking Christmas parties, but fears the latest restrictions will wipe out any festive trade. Those on zero-hours contracts, too, went unmentioned in the chancellor's speech. "We're the forgotten group," says Samantha Pearmain, who performed front-of-house duties in a busy conference centre.

"There's no pretence that jobs won't go," says our political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, adding the scheme places the burden on employers, who must "do their sums" to decide whether they - and their staff - have a future. Meanwhile, the boss of clothing store Next - who's largely supportive of the chancellor's plan - says  hundreds of thousands of traditional retail jobs may still not survive, since lockdown triggered a permanent shift to online shopping. "It's going to be very uncomfortable," says Lord Wolfson.

 
 
 

Confirmed cases hit daily high

 
 

At 6,634, the latest daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases was the highest since mass testing began. While official records may show new cases hitting a daily high, health correspondent Nick Triggle says in reality it is "nothing of the sort", given the limited testing capacity at the peak of the pandemic in the spring. "Estimates have suggested there may have been as many 100,000 cases a day at the peak," he adds. Currently, half of the population in northern England and a fifth of people in the Midlands face extra restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. But no local authority south of Solihull is currently imposing these measures. Our Reality Check team examines why.

 
 
 

Bid to increase scrutiny over lockdown rules

 
 

Since March, ministers have had emergency powers to respond to the pandemic, allowing them to, for example, impose limits pub opening hours, or ban meetings of more than six people in England. But those powers were time-limited and their proposed renewal next week faces opposition from more than 40 Conservatives who want a say on any such measures in future. As one MP, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, puts it: "It's disgraceful that really very far-reaching powers, curtailing people's civil liberties, have just been pushed through without a proper debate in Parliament." With daily life across Europe similarly limited, many protesters feel the restrictions outweigh the perceived threat from the virus. And the dissent is causing debate within the scientific community over the consequences of lockdown measures.

 
 
 

Daily digest

 
 
   

Drug raids 1,000 arrests after nationwide county lines crackdown

 
   

Covid Royal accounts show potential £35m shortfall.

 
   

Christmas presents Shop early or "risk losing out"

 
   

Vatican Cardinal resigns unexpectedly

 
 
 
 

The Australians locked out of their home 

 

Last Thursday, Andrew Leslie, 52, woke up at 04:30 BST at his east London home for his mother's funeral. It was taking place 10,000 miles away in Sydney, Australia. He had no choice but to say a "surreal" goodbye to his beloved 92-year-old mum, Helen, via an online live stream. "I really cannot describe the sadness and grief I've felt over the last few weeks," Andrew says.

"We always thought we were only 24 hours from being home." But when his mother was taken to hospital after a fall four weeks ago, Andrew and his wife, Anu, 49, searched for flights, only to find that by the time they could fly there, and finish Australia's mandatory two-week quarantine, they would still be "weeks too late" to see his mother.

 
 
 
 
 
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Mary O'Connor

BBC News

 
 
 
 
 

What the papers say

 
 
Composite image featuring Times and Daily Mail front pages

The new Job Support Scheme features on most front pages, with the i calculating workers will be able to get 77% of their wages for working one-third of their hours. For the Daily Express, it's a "daring £5bn escape plan". The Daily Mirror's headline, however, describes it as "too little too late", and the Times says Britain is facing "a wave of redundancies". According to the Daily Telegraph, unemployment stands at 4.1%, but could peak at 13.2% next year - meaning four million people out of work. Nonetheless, the Daily Mail highlights the chancellor's call to the nation to learn to live with coronavirus "without fear", and praises Mr Sunak for saying "what so many have been thinking".

 
 
 

If you watch one thing today

Cyber attack video graphic
How cyber-attacks could be deadly
 
 
 
 

If you listen to one thing today

The Austerity Audit promotional image
The Austerity Audit
 
 
 
 

If you read one thing today

Liam Gallagher
Britpop's fights, flags and fall from grace
 
 
 
 

Need something different?

 
 

The BBC latest talent show, The Search, starts this weekend. It will see the creation of a series of pop groups who'll compete for a slot supporting Little Mix on their arena tour next year. The group tell us why their experience of winning the X Factor in 2011 led to them insisting aftercare is available for contestants in the new programme. And it's Friday, so why not test your knowledge of recent headlines in our quiz of the week's news.

 
 
 

On this day

 
 
   

1983 Thirty-eight prisoners escape from the high-security Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. Watch the report on the search operation that followed.

 
 
 

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