Rishi Sunak’s furlough U-turn leaves him groping for a coherent economic strategy

Photograph: PA

T

he furlough “cannot and should not go on forever” declared Rishi Sunak back in July.

And who would disagree with that? Indeed, who was calling for never-ending furlough? The chancellor was knocking down a straw man.

What people were pointing out was that if there was another spike in coronavirus cases and a return to restrictions on the economy it would be sensible for the chancellor to retain the option of keeping furlough (technically known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) in place.