Chancellor expected to announce more financial support for businesses today

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce more financial support for businesses struggling under England’s third nationwide lockdown later today, according to the Cabinet Office minister.
 

Michael Gove told Sky News: "The chancellor will be saying a little bit more about additional support for business."

ABTA has repeated its call for specific support for the travel industry, which has been brought to a virtual standstill once again by the new restrictions announced last night by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

An ABTA spokesperson said: "It’s right, of course, that the Government takes steps to control the spread of the virus. But this needs to come with the right measures to support travel businesses which have little or no means of operating.

"For ten months now, many travel businesses have been unable to generate income – putting jobs and businesses at risk – and the latest Government measures mean this is unlikely to change soon.

"Yet, unlike other sectors such as hospitality, there hasn’t been any tailored financial support from the UK Government to get travel businesses through the crisis."

ABTA pointed out that other countries, including France and Italy, have established targeted schemes ‘in recognition of the unique challenges facing travel’.

"Similar recognition and support is long overdue from Westminster, and we urge Ministers to address this gap urgently," said ABTA.

The latest lockdown in England will last at least until mid-February, according to Mr Gove. It will include a ban on leisure travel, including overseas holidays. Initial guidance published on gov.uk says: "You can only travel internationally – or within the UK – where you first have a legally permitted reason to leave home."

In Scotland, the lastest restrictions announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday, will be reviewed at the end of January.

Advantage CEO Julia Lo Bue-Said said the next three months will be ‘incredibly hard’ for agents, but she added: "We remain hopeful that the anecdotal feedback indicates some pent up demand which we hope will translate to a bounce back for the industry post-Easter.

"We are a resilient industry and we know the British public will want to travel as soon as it’s safe to do so.

"What’s important is they have the confidence to make bookings at a time of terrible uncertainty. The effective roll out of the vaccine is critical to the resumption of normal life and if this happens on schedule we could see confidence start to slowly return."

By Linsey McNeill, Editor (UK)