Newspaper headlines: Chancellor’s ‘jobs lifeline to save economy’ – BBC News

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image captionSeveral of Thursday’s front pages focus on Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement later about what happens after the furlough scheme ends at the end of October. The Daily Telegraph reports Mr Sunak will announce a wage subsidy scheme that will top up the pay of people who work at least half of their normal hours – in a bid to avoid mass redundancies. The paper also pictures the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who have made headlines after Prince Harry urged US citizens to “reject hate speech” and vote in the country’s upcoming presidential election.
image captionThe chancellor scrapped his Autumn Budget to focus on emergency schemes to prop up jobs and businesses, according to the Financial Times. The Treasury said it was not the right time to outline long-term plans amid the coronavirus pandemic. The FT reports that Mr Sunak is also set to extend four loan schemes.
image captionThe Times also reports Mr Sunak’s measures will include more loans for struggling businesses, and it says there will be VAT cuts. It adds that the German-style subsidy scheme is designed to encourage companies to keep on workers in viable jobs while ensuring others are not retained in “zombie posts”. The paper also reports on the launch of a new campaign to get people in England and Wales to download the delayed coronavirus tracing app.
image captionThe Guardian’s lead says the chancellor’s new measures come amid mounting pressure on him to act after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new virus restrictions this week. It cites a Treasury source as saying: “No-one wanted to be in this situation but we need to respond to it.”
image captionAnd the Daily Express calls the plans “Rishi’s jobs lifeline to save economy”, saying he will announce a rescue package to support millions of jobs through the winter.
image caption”Price we can’t afford to pay” is the Daily Mail’s headline, as it claims business chiefs and hospitality groups have issued “dire warnings” over the impact of the latest coronavirus restrictions. The new measures – which include a return to home working for office staff in England – could last up to six months. The Mail says industry groups believe the PM’s U-turn on his “back to work” message could significantly affect struggling high streets.
image captionThe Metro leads with “Pret A (M)Anger”, reporting the founder of food chain Pret A Manger has accused the prime minister of putting “millions” of jobs in danger with the latest tightening of rules. Julian Metcalfe said Mr Johnson was “spouting Churchillian nonsense”, the paper says, and risking firm’s futures by asking people to work from home for another six months.
image captionMeanwhile, the i newspaper carries a warning from government scientists that travelling home from university at Christmas poses a risk of “larger outbreaks” of coronavirus. They want a ban on leaving campus, according to the paper. It comes after a “significant” outbreak of Covid-19 was confirmed at Glasgow University on Tuesday.
image captionThe Daily Mirror runs a full-page image of the prime minister with his hands up alongside the headline – “the blame lies here” – as it reports on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s criticism of the government. On Wednesday, Sir Keir condemned the PM’s handling of the crisis. “We’re a great country. We shouldn’t have one of the highest death rates in the world,” he said.
image captionFinally, the Daily Star devotes its front page to a picture of a car that became submerged during high tide. It says the driver “had the sort of luck PM Boris Johnson has endured lately”.

“Rishi blows the budget” is the Sun’s headline assessment of the chancellor’s job retention scheme, which features on many of Thursday’s front pages.

The paper says that under the plans, an employee normally on 37 hours a week could do just 17 hours and still get their full wage via the government top-up.

The FT says that officials’ calculations have been based around workers doing between 50% and 60% of their normal hours.

The paper points out that this would be considerably cheaper than the furlough programme, which is reported to have cost almost £4bn in the last month alone.

In its own “rough” calculation, the FT says partially supporting wages of three million people would cost about £500m a month.

“Rishi’s jobs lifeline” is the Daily Express assessment of Rishi Sunak’s planned economic intervention.

The paper says that while the chancellor will prioritise protecting and creating jobs – he will also be honest with the public that “some economic pain” may be needed in the short term to help the UK’s finances “bounce back to full health”.

But quoting Whitehall sources, the Guardian says rather than focusing on the future, Mr Sunak’s winter economic plan is more about showing the public the government is dealing with the “here and now”.

The Daily Mirror uses its editorial to criticise the chancellor not acting sooner to help try and keep people in work. “Not before time” is the paper’s main message to the Treasury before it unveils its wage support plan.

The paper says the measures need to be “lasting, fair and effective” and not just “a series of piecemeal policies”.

The Times leader calls the chancellor’s consideration of a wage subsidy scheme “a sound principle” – because it would protect jobs that have a future even though consumer demand is temporarily depressed.

‘Growing backlash’

The Daily Telegraph reveals Boris Johnson is facing a “growing backlash” from some of his own MPs after announcing the new coronavirus restrictions could last six months.

At least one minister has reportedly threatened to resign, while up to 50 Conservative MPs are said to be ready to withhold support in a vote to approve the government’s lockdown powers.

The i adds there is resentment from Tories in the south-west of England where infection rates remain low. Many are said to want an exemption from any national lockdown, with the MP for West Dorset concerned his constituents are being “punished” for breaches in large towns and cities.

The Times reports that one in three people who are told to isolate by the new coronavirus tracing app in England and Wales will get a “false positive” result.

The glitch – which mistakenly assumes someone has been within two metres of an infected person for 15 minutes – is because the Bluetooth signal can be affected by surrounding objects.

But in an editorial for the Daily Mirror, the chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, says the public should have “some sympathy” for the app’s creators because it has been built in a hurry.

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“BBC fights listed status of historic studios” is a headline in the Times, as it reports on the corporation’s struggles to regenerate Maida Vale.

The paper says the BBC had hoped to make “huge sums of money” by selling the site made famous by the likes of The Beatles and Pink Floyd to developers.

The building has grade II listed status – meaning any interested parties face significant extra cost. But with the BBC board said to be “so concerned” about the financial impact of not being able to develop the site, it has launched a “strong appeal” against elements of the listing.

‘Christmas lockdown warning’

“Students get Christmas lockdown warning” is the bleak headline on the front of the i.

According to minutes from the latest meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), experts are concerned about infected students “spilling” out from university at the end of term and causing large outbreaks of Covid-19 in their home communities.

Nick Hillman, the director of the Higher Education Policy Unit, says students staying on campus during the festive period should be viewed as just “another sacrifice” in the battle against the virus.

And finally… as if 2020 hadn’t been bad enough, the Daily Mail warns of a “grim and chronic” threat to gin and tonic. The paper says there is growing concern that a pathogen introduced to the UK in the 1990s is threatening the country’s juniper trees.

Described by the Mail as a “fungal foe”, it is said to thrive in water-logged conditions. But researchers believe all hope isn’t lost for fans of a G&T because some trees appear to be resistant to the pathogen which cannot spread through their roots.