Anneliese Dodds responding to winter economic plan: "It’s a relief that the government has U-turned now... That delay in introducing this new scheme will have impacted on business confidence."
"Will this scheme of wage support actually keep more people in work?" Dodds asks. "Does his scheme actually incentivise short hours working?"
"Will the scheme incentivise training and retraining?" Labour wants UK version of German scheme in this area too.
Dodds welcomes continued, targeted support for the self-employed. "But will these measures avoid the gaps in coverage that have bedevilled existing schemes?" cc @ExcludedUK
Dodds also urges Chancellor to work with his colleagues on improving the test and trace system.
Dodds concludes that lagging behind on test and trace and economic measures means "it looks like our recovery will be lagging behind that of many other countries".
Sunak replies that the new scheme does have conditionality – only available for larger companies if they are seeing a decline in revenues due to Covid, and there are restrictions in terms of capital distributions.
Noting that his plan has won TUC backing, Sunak claims Labour wanted furlough extended but didn't say how long for, wanted furlough replaced but wouldn't say what with, wanted it targeted bu wouldn't say to who. Chancellor says Labour "doesn't even have a Plan A".
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