Rishi Sunak must steal Labour’s idea of a targeted furlough scheme extension

It’s a simple case of repackaging the oppositions’ ideas, writes James Moore. It’s not as if the Tories haven’t done anything like it before

Now is the time to do away with party politics and help sectors hit the hardest (PA)

Rishi Sunak’s job retention scheme has been a rare success for Boris Johnson’s dismal government.

The trouble is, the way it’s being withdrawn threatens to undo much of the hard, and very expensive, work that went into getting it operating and saving jobs.

There isn’t a lot of steps in the way it’s being phased out. Employers are being asked to contribute a bit more to the wages of furloughed staff this month and next, before Sunak opens a trapdoor leading to a very hard floor several hundred metres below. Businesses without access to parachutes and base jumping skills are going to break, taking their employees with them.