The government is looking at options for supporting businesses financially if the prime minister orders more lockdown restrictions to tackle the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
The Times reported that new state funding could include a potential return to furlough.
The newspaper has been told that “Rishi Sunak will increase the Treasury’s business support package again if pubs, bars and restaurants are ordered to close. Senior government sources said it was too early to say whether such measures might be necessary but that officials were working on a range of options”.
A treasury source told the Times: “If we do get to a position where we are telling businesses that they have to shut their doors then it is not unreasonable for them to expect additional government support.”
Travel industry bosses have long lobbied for sector-specific support, saying their ability to trade has been curtailed by government restrictions.
Over the weekend, agents reacted angrily to a tweet by the transport secretary about £4 billion in emergency funding to Transport for London (TfL), demanding to know why the travel industry still has not had any dedicated cash.
And on Monday, chief executives of the UK’s leading airlines wrote to the prime minister, urging him to remove the latest travel restrictions ahead of the busy Christmas season – and asking that a “package of bespoke economic support measures should be provided immediately to bridge the sector through this crisis”.
Elsewhere, the Telegraph reported that the chancellor is being asked to shelve plans to increase National Insurance contributions, as well as putting up corporation tax in 2023.
Lord Bilimoria, the chairman of Cobra beer and head of lobby group the Confederation of British Industry, told the newspaper it is “absolutely the wrong time” to raise taxes given the threat facing the economy.
John Redwood, a veteran Conservative backbencher, told the Telegraph: “The latest Omicron measures will hit hospitality, travel and entertainment jobs and businesses again. “More reason to cancel the coming National Insurance increase to limit the damage to incomes.”
Business lobby groups also called for extra financial support from the government in a meeting with business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday night.