UK coronavirus live: Rishi Sunak extends furlough until end of March | Politics

Back in the Commons David Linden (SNP) asks Rishi Sunak why the furlough scheme is being extended to March, but support for the self-employed only being extended until January, according to the statement. (See 12.24pm.)

Sunak says that the self-employment employment support scheme will be extended until March. But the Treasury has not decided yet how much it will be worth during that phase, he says.

These are from my colleague Heather Stewart.

Back in the Commons Peter Bone (Con) asks Rishi Sunak how the government will pay through this.

In the short term, says Sunak, through “extensive borrowing”. He says the debt to GDP ratio will reach 100% this year.

But that is not sustainable, he says.

He says the government will have to “reduce our structural deficit over time”.

In the short term that will come through growth, he says. But he says that the public finances will also have to be “balanced appropriately”.

In the Commons Christine Jardine, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson, has said the furlough scheme should be extended until the summer.

Sunak said that there would be a review in January, and that today’s statement covered the medium term.

Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, has given a partial welcome the the chancellor’s announcement. In a statement she said:

Agreeing to extend the job retention scheme at 80% until the spring, as unions have called for, is a positive step.

But there are still gaps in the government’s support package.

It’s not right to ask millions of low-paid workers on furlough to survive on less than the minimum wage. The Chancellor must fix the scheme so their pay is topped up to 100%.

And he must offer to help to those self-employed workers who are falling between the cracks.

We also need an urgent boost to both sick pay and universal credit. No-one should be plunged into financial hardship if they have to self-isolate or if they lose their job.

Boris Johnson is holding a press conference with Sir Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, at 5pm, No 10 has announced.

Margaret Greenwood (Lab) asks why the government only made job support more generous when people in the south of England were affected.

Sunak says the government treats everyone the same. He says it is “simply wrong” to claim that people in the north were treated less generously.

Alison Thewliss, the SNP’s Treasury spokesperson, says she has been calling for these measures for months. She says the Treasury only responded when England was under threat.

Can Sunak confirm that furlough will be maintained at 80%, and not tied to any sector?

There is nothing for the self-employed, she says.

Sunak says Scotland will receive an extra £1bn in upfront funding. It will be for the Scottish government to decide how it uses that, he says.

He says the Scottish government has the power to raise taxes. If it considers these measures important, it could raise funds for them, he suggests.

Mel Stride, the Tory chair of the Commons Treasury committee, asks if the Treasury will publish its analysis of the economic impact of lockdown.

Sunak says there is not a specific report on this. But the Treasury has looked at the economic impact, he says.