The government has now announced that the cut-off date for the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme has been extended to the 19th of March 2020, taking effect next week.

In my new role as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, I had been pressing the government to address the original, arbitrary cut-off date of the 28th February that would have prevented many workers from getting the income support they need during this challenging time.

This will be welcome news for many constituents who have been in touch with me who found themselves outside the original furlough scheme. I will continue to work with the government to seek to resolve other outstanding concerns around government programmes and their effectiveness.