A Tory government minister failed to confirm whether Scotland will have access to the furlough scheme after December 2.
Robert Jenrick declined to provide the reassurance less than a day after the Prime Minister indicated furlough would be flexible.
Jenrick instead said it would be a matter for the Chancellor.
The UK Government had announced the return of furlough, which guarantees 80% of wages, after the humiliating U-turn that will plunge England back into lockdown from Thursday. It will apply across the UK until December 2.
In Scotland, a five-level localised system of restrictions came into force yesterday – but Nicola Sturgeon admitted a tougher lockdown was more likely if furlough was available.
Sturgeon called for furlough to be accessible outside of the one-month window announced by Johnson. She said her government wanted the option of a furlough extension for Scotland and had “pressed that point very firmly” at the UK-wide COBRA meeting, which brings together top government figures.
At Westminster yesterday, Johnson initially dodged attempts by Scottish MPs to extract an answer on the furlough issue.
But he eventually told Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross: “I must repeat what I have said several times already this afternoon. The furlough scheme is a UK-wide scheme.
“If other parts of the UK decide to go into measures which require the furlough scheme, then of course it’s available to them. That has to be right, and that applies not just now, but of course in the future as well.”
Johnson's comments were welcomed by Ross, who had put the Prime Minister under pressure, and given cautious backing by the Scottish Government.
However, Jenrick, who is the secretary of state for Housing, Communities and Local Government, this morning cast doubt on the PM's comments.
In a Sky interview, he was asked what happens if Sturgeon decides she wants to have a lockdown past December 2.
Asked if Scotland would still have access to furlough, Jenrick said: "That's a decision the Chancellor will have to make at the time."
Asked if it was a cast iron guarantee, he said: "What the Prime Minister said yesterday...was that we will continue to provide the financial support that Scotland needs, so that Scottish people get the benefits of being part of the Union."
"It will be available to everybody in the United Kingdom until the 2nd of December. At that point I think the Chancellor will quite rightly have to decided what its future is."
The confusion prompted another statement from Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, who claimed: "The Prime Minister’s commitment is definitive. It’s rich to hear the SNP complain of a lack of clarity when they couldn’t make their mind up for weeks about what’s a café or a restaurant.
“They leave Scottish councils, especially in the north-east, in the dark about funding time and again. They still haven’t told us how they plan to spend the £700 million that the UK Government delivered weeks ago.
“What’s most important here is that the UK furlough scheme will be available to save Scottish jobs again – and the Prime Minister has confirmed beyond doubt that it will be.”
Jenrick's appearance also left Treasury officials rushing to contact the Scottish government with assurances.
A senior Whitehall source later said the rushed weekend announcement of lockdown in England, because of a leak of coronavirus projections, led to the confused UK government communication.
The source made it clear Jenrick was not across the detail of what the PM had promised when he walked back the furlough commitment.
The official said: “The clear steer is not to read anything into it, you should to refer to the Prime Minister’s words yesterday."
