Pandemic job losses could increase regional divides, Labour warns

The forthcoming end to the government’s furlough scheme could deepen regional inequality across the UK, the Labour Party has warned.

The government’s job retention scheme is due to end on 31 October, having helped pay the wages for more than 7m workers since the lockdown started in March.

But Labour has warned that the sudden end to the scheme could lead to mass redundancies, with sectors like retail and manufacturing suffering the biggest casualties, which could impact some regions more than others.

Figures published by the opposition party show that more than 10% of the North West’s workforce is in the retail sector – the highest proportion anywhere in the UK.

And Wales and the North East are second and third in terms of the proportion of the workforce in retail.

Almost 13% of the workforce in the East Midlands is in the manufacturing sector – the highest proportion in the whole country.

While the West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, Wales, the North East and North West all have between 10-12% of their workforce in the manufacturing sector.

In comparison, only 2.2% of London’s workforce is in manufacturing.

Meanwhile, London is likely to be most affected by the damage to the aviation and travel industry, as it is the region with the highest proportion (0.7%) of its workforce in the aviation industry, and 64,000 jobs relying on aviation and travel.

‘Ministers are writing off parts of the UK as the country enters recession, with figures suggesting some places will be disproportionately hit by the jobs crisis,’ said shadow business minister, Matthew Pennycock.

‘Labour is calling for the government to U-turn on its damaging blanket approach to withdrawing furlough, which fails to consider the circumstances of different sectors or the impact on the communities that have a proud history in these industries.

‘The government needs to do right by these communities and businesses, and see them through the crisis by targeting support, not pull the life raft away while the storm is still raging on.’

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