Chancellor urged to help UK businesses

Pressure on Chancellor: Sunak leaving 11 Downing Street in London recently. Johnson’s Covid-19 measures immediately put pressure on the chancellor to set out how the UK government intends to help the business sector. — AFP

LONDON: Struggling businesses were just getting back on their feet after the United Kingdom’s first national lockdown sparked the country’s deepest recession in over a century.

Now they face another six months of hardship after Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled a fresh tranche of coronavirus restrictions that will last until spring 2021.

Johnson’s announcement immediately put pressure onto Chancellor Rishi Sunak to set out how the government intends to protect jobs and help businesses through the autumn and winter, just as it winds up its support programmes.