Pubs and cafes ordered to close as Government to pay wages in coronavirus crisis

The unprecedented measures announced by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak today revealed up to 80 per cent of the salary of workers who would otherwise face redundancy due to coronavirus would be paid by the Government, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.

Under what Mr Sunak dubbed "unprecedented measures for unprecedented times" he admitted: "I cannot promise you that no one will face hardship in the weeks ahead," as more job losses may be on the horizon.

But he said: “The actions I've taken today represent an unprecedented economic intervention to support the jobs and incomes of the British people.”

It came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced widespread closures of venues such as pubs, cafes, and restaurants.

And the death toll from coronavirus in the UK reached 177, five of which were in Yorkshire.

The total number of cases in the UK has risen to 3,267.

Today Mr Sunak also announced:

- The Universal Credit standard allowance for the next 12 months would rise by £1,000 a year, and increased the working tax credit basic element by the same sum.

- A £1bn package of support for renters through increasing housing benefit and Universal Credit.

- The deferral of the next self-assessment payments to January 2021 to further support the self-employed.

-The next quarter of VAT payments will be deferred until the end of June in a cash injection of £30bn.

- The coronavirus business interruption loan scheme will now be interest free for 12 months rather than the six months previously announced.

The measures were welcomed by trade unions, and Director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership Henri Murison.

Mr Murison said: “It is a bold step by helping pay workers’ wages which will prevent hundreds of thousands losing their jobs in the North and will prevent damage which otherwise could have taken a decade or more to repair.”

But Mr Sunak also appealed directly to businesses.

"Let me speak directly to businesses: I know it's incredibly difficult out there - we in Government are doing everything we can to support you," he said.

"The Government is doing its best to stand behind you and I'm asking you to do your best to stand behind our workers."

"Please look very carefully at that support before making any decisions to lay people off," Mr Sunak continued.

It came as Mr Johnson told some businesses they would now be forced to shut their doors.

And he told the British public to not be mistaken on whether the virus could affect them.

He said: “You may think you are invincible, but there is no guarantee you will get mild symptoms, and you can still be a carrier of the disease and pass it on to others.”

Nightclubs, theatres, gyms and leisure centres were also included in the shutdown, but shops would be allowed to stay open for the time being.

Mr Johnson said: “We are collectively telling cafes, pubs, bars, restaurants to close tonight as soon as they reasonably can, and not to open tomorrow.”

He said they could provide takeaway services but that the shutdown was necessary to stop people gathering socially.

He said: “These are places where people come together, and indeed the whole purpose of these businesses is to bring people together. But the sad thing is that today for now, at least physically, we need to keep people apart.”

He added: "I do accept that what we're doing is extraordinary - we're taking away the ancient inalienable right of freeborn people of the United Kingdom to go to the pub.

"And I can understand how people feel about that.

"But I say to people who do go against the advice that we're getting, the very clear advice that we're getting from our medical and scientific experts, you know you're not only putting your own life, the lives of your family, at risk - you're endangering the community.”

Appealing to the nation the Chancellor, who is tipped by many as a future Prime Minister, said: "We want to look back on this moment and remember the many small acts of kindness done by us and to us.

"We want to look back on this time and remember how we thought first of others and acted with decency.

“We want to look back on this time and remember how in the face of a generation-defining moment, we undertook a collective national effort and we stood together.

“It's on all of us."