George Osborne says Britain needs a formal “acting Prime Minister” if Boris Johnson is going to be recovering from coronavirus for an extended period of time.
The former Chancellor, now editor of the London Evening Standard, said a formal stand-in taking over all of Mr Johnson’s decision-making would avoid a power vacuum at the top of government.
Currently First Secretary of State Dominic Raab is deputising for the Prime Minister while he recovers at his country retreat of Chequers.
Number 10 insist Mr Raab has the authority to take decisions while Mr Johnson is incapacitated.
But Mr Osborne said that was not enough, and it should be made into a formal position.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Emma Barnett: “In our system the prime minister makes all the important and difficult decisions others don’t want to make. That is nature of the job.
“We all want Boris Johnson to recover and we hope he is back.
“If he is going to be out for a prolonged period then Dominic Raab does need to be the acting PM – not just the deputy who stands in when PM is on a foreign trip.
“This is different. I certainly agree that you can’t rely on the health and recuperation of one person before you make decisions about the health and recuperation of a country of 60 million people.
“We need decision making at the highest level. If he can’t do it - and I hope he can – but if he can’t then his acting PM needs to make those decisions.”
Mr Osborne said he was spending the lockdown in a ‘borrowed’ house in Somerset.
“I’m actually in Somerset in a house that someone has kindly lent me because my children are also in Somerset and I went through a divorce recently and I’m near them.
“I need to see them in a way that’s safe and keeps family as in touch as possible. It’s the kind of dilemmas everyone is facing.”
The ex-Chancellor warned the furlough scheme may have to be in place for most of this year.
He said: “I think one of the hardest things and the thing that will be debated a lot later this year is when to come out of this furlough scheme.
Because many companies will say if you don’t pay this furlough then we are going to have to make these people redundant. I think furlough will be there for a quite a long time and will be extremely expensive because the taxpayer is paying to employ people.
“I think exiting Furlough will be one of toughest decisions …but has to be taken at some point.
“I think it will last certainly through most of this year - certainly not weeks.”
