Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Governments must work together to create ‘fair furlough’ scheme – Gordon Brown

© Victoria Jones/PA WireGordon Brown
Gordon Brown

The UK and Scottish governments must work together to create “fair furlough” and job guarantee schemes in response to the coronavirus crisis, Gordon Brown’s think tank has urged.

Our Scottish Future said there needed to be an “unprecedented level of co-operation” to prevent jobs being lost.

A report released on Friday said “current approaches by both governments are deficient, and risk Scottish jobs falling between the cracks of partisan bickering”.

In his foreword to the report, the former prime minister says: “The restructuring of the employment market over the next three years is likely to be far more profound and extensive than at any time in the last 50 years.

“Little that has been announced so far for life beyond the end of the UK furlough scheme in October leads us to believe that sufficient attention has been given to the long-term challenges ahead, and to measures that will avert mass redundancies in the short-term.

“But I believe as strongly now as I did during the global financial crisis that if we can discover the courage to co-operate and the will to work together, then there is no reason why we cannot succeed in overcoming the present challenges and building a stronger society.”

He said there should be locally flexible furlough schemes if certain areas had to go into lockdown.

The report said both governments should form an “alliance for full employment” to support jobs in the long term with a new industrial strategy and a “green-sea deal” to maintain the North Sea as the UK’s energy hub.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said governments in Edinburgh and London should “properly engage” with the report.

“Today’s report is a clarion call to the UK and Scottish governments – it’s time for them to work together to save and create jobs and to make full employment a goal of public policy again,” he said.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We have repeatedly called on the UK Government not to withdraw the furlough scheme, which this report correctly notes is essential for the Scottish economy.

“The UK Government should follow the example of countries like Germany by extending furlough – and if they fail to do so then the necessary financial powers should be transferred to Scotland so that we can take the action needed here.

“Meanwhile, we are investing a total of £60 million in a jobs guarantee for young people as part of £100 million of Scottish Government investment for employment and skills which we announced last month.”