Jobs that “don’t fit” with coronavirus may “take a long time to come back”, a minister has warned.
Gillian Keegan told Kay Burley that the furlough scheme did aim to support people in industries hardest hit by COVID-19, but it cannot continue “indefinitely”.
She admitted it “is hard to see how nightclubs will open until we have some kind of long-term way to deal with coronavirus”.
The skills minister was quizzed on fresh new restrictions slipped out by the government banning some singing and dancing in hospitality firms.
“It’s hard to keep your space if people are moving and you don’t know how someone else is going to move,” she said.
And Ms Keegan defended the 10pm curfew for pubs, bars and restaurants.
She said they should be “COVID-secure” anyway but “if they stay open later, we don’t get control of the virus”.
Asked what scientific basis there was for the policy, Ms Keegan pointed to Belgium where a similar measure was introduced and cases decreased.
“That is the science, the evidence that we have,” she added.