Keir Starmer warns of 'wave of job losses this winter' if more coronavirus financial support is not announced

In a televised broadcast tonight advertised as a “right of reply” to the Prime Minister’s national address on Tuesday, Sir Keir hit out at the Government as he said: “While these restrictions are now necessary, they were not inevitable.”

He said: “The return of this virus, and the return of restrictions, are not an act of God, they’re a failure of Government.”

It comes as Chancellor Rishi Sunak scrapped the winter Budget to update MPs tomorrow on his winter plan for coronavirus support.

But Sir Keir said: “We need a national effort to protect jobs and prevent a second lockdown, so I’ve offered to work with the Prime Minister to do whatever we can to save lives and livelihoods.

“That offer remains open. My door is always open.”

But he said a plan B was needed for the economy.

“It makes no sense to bring in new restrictions at the same time as phasing out support for jobs and businesses,” he said.

Today Boris Johnson told the Commons: “Of course the Government is going to come forward with further measures.

“I don’t think it’d be sensible simply to extend the current existing furlough scheme in its present form beyond the end of October, but we will do everything we can to support businesses, support those in jobs and indeed the self-employed.”

The Prime Minister later said the Government will “do whatever we can” to support freelancers as they are the “backbone of our theatrical world”.

When asked by Sir Keir why he did not introduce new measures sooner, Mr Johnson said: “Let’s be in absolutely no doubt that the work that this Government has done to protect the economy of this country, to support the jobs of 12m people through the furlough scheme, enabled expenditure of about £160bn has been unexampled anywhere else in the world. And I think he should pay tribute to the Chancellor and his work and we will go forward with further creative and imaginative schemes to keep our economy moving.”

Scarborough and Whitby Conservative MP Robert Goodwill said bus manufacturers in his constituency in particular needed help.

Alexander Dennis Plaxton in Scarborough had already had to make 90 redundancies, he said.

But by accelerating funding for 4,000 zero-emission British-built buses, support could be given.

Mr Goodwill said: “We’re pressing for the Government to release this money early and to get production lines running.

“They are at a point of real crisis, there have already been some redundancies so we do need this money to be allocated. This isn’t new money.”

Some £5bn was announced in February to overhaul the UK’s green transport infrastructure, in a move the Prime Minister called a “transport revolution”.