The revelation came on the day that the Prime Minister defended his funding of the pandemic furlough scheme as ‘compassionate conservatism’
The clash followed warnings from MPs and scientists over the issue of workers not being able to afford to self-isolate if they caught the virus., in reference to an outbreak at Banham poultry farm in his Mid Norfolk constituency: “The current Statutory Sick Pay doesn’t provide enough to live on.” The government’s Behavioural Insights Team, also known as the Nudge Unit, also raised the issue, pointing out that care homes which paid sick leave to their staff saw lower infection rates of Covid.
Mr Sunak gave local authorities just £50 million to fund the self-isolation scheme – compared to the £70 billion he spent on the furlough scheme, and £840 million on Eat Out To Help Out. He said Statutory Sick Pay of £94.25 was “far too low to meaningfully incentivise self-isolation” and around two million workers who earned below the lower earnings limit were not eligible at all.