Rishi Sunak has explained the reason why he had extended furlough and other support past June 21 when all coronavirus restrictions are expected to have been lifted.
The Chancellor was speaking the day after the Budget, when he extended measures such as the Universal Credit £20 uplift up to the autumn.
It comes despite the fact England's roadmap out of lockdown should end on June 21.
But Mr Sunak said the measures are in place in case lockdown has to be extended.
He said: "Of course things might change".
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB), the Chancellor said: “The approach we took with all of our support yesterday was first and foremost to make good on the promise we made a year ago, which was to do whatever it takes to support people, families, businesses through the crisis, and the Budget set that out.
“Furlough extension was a part of that, you’re right, until the end of September.
“And we did that for a couple of reasons. I wanted people to have the reassurance that we were ‘going long’, beyond the end of the road map, because of course things might change.
“We wanted to accommodate even the most cautious view of exiting from the restrictions – hopefully that won’t happen, we are making great progress, and thanks to everyone involved in the vaccination drive for making that possible.
“But it is also important to remember that, just because the restrictions end, businesses will still need to take time to recover, things will take a bit of time to get back to the way they were, so I think it is important to provide that extra cushion.”
