NICOLA Sturgeon has warned it is “all but inevitable” that the Omicron variant will wreck the economic recovery unless the Treasury intervenes.
The First Minister told MSPs she believed Chancellor Rishi Sunak would be compelled to reinstate Covid business support schemes such as furlough.
However time was of the essence, and in a letter to Boris Johnson, which was copied to Mr Sunak, she said the issue should be addressed with “extreme urgency”.
In it, she said the “sheer number” of people likely to be infected risked overwhelming the NHS and “disabling the economy”, and that signs of both were already being seen.
She said the situation was having a “massive impact on business”, but said restrictions on how “higher risk settings - while of course undesirable - may now be unavoidable”.
Without them, “Omicron will deliver a significant economic shock that will see lack of staff and pressure on already stressed supply chains lead directly to business failure”.
She went on: “If we do not get Omicro under control, we are sacrificing the economic recovery we all want to see. If the Treasury does not provide financial compensation and support, this result becomes all but inevitable.”
She also told FMQs Mr Sunak should be at his desk dealing with the impact of the Omicron surge, a reference to him spending four days on official business in California.
READ MORE: Covid: Nicola Sturgeon requests Boris Johnson meeting over Omicron financial support
Labour today said Mr Sunak should “get himself on a flight back and get a grip of the situation”.
His absence from Whitehall coincides with growing calls from the hospitality sector for support as its vital Christmas trade collapses amid official advice to minimise socialising.
The sector has called for a VAT cut, business rates relief, grants and targeted furlough.
The Treasury said Mr Sunak remained in contact with his London office even though his work trip featured “a packed schedule of meetings and round tables”.
At FMQs, Ms Sturgeon said the Prime Minister and his Chancellor must not “sleep walk into an emergency” caused by Omicron, which is expected to be the dominant strain in Scotland tomorrow.
She said she had written to Mr Johnson “appealing to him to put the necessary support schemes in place”, and hope to talk to him later today.
She said she was “profoundly concerned by the scale and the immediacy of the challenge” posed by the new coronavirus strain.
READ MORE: Covid Scotland: Nicola Sturgeon issues Omicron variant 'dominant strain' warning
She said the devolved administrations were unable to institute and pay for business support schemes on the scale now required, and the UK Government must act instead.
She said: “I find it impossible right now to contemplate how the UK Government can fail to put in place schemes. Because this is not just an issue that Scotland is facing.
“It’s an issue the whole UK if facing. The doubling times for Omicron in parts of England are ven faster than they are in Scotland right now. We are all in this together.
“I think, whatever the politics and the maelstrom around that we’ve seen in recent days, it will become unavoidable, I think, for the UK Government to act, and I hope they act sooner rather than later, because that is the issue here.
“The sooner we act the less of an emergency we get ourselves into.
“We have maximised the financial support we can give to businesses, which is why it is important the UK Government acts.”
Ms Sturgeon also told MSPs she had taken part in a four-nations Cobra emergency meeting chaired by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove on Wednesday.
She said she and the first ministers of Wales and Northern Ireland raised the issue of funding support.
She said: “These meetings are really important. I hope the Prime Minister and the Chancellor engage directly in them from now on.”
Ms Sturgeon’s official spokesman later said Mr Sunak’s absence from Westminster in order to visit California was “not a good look”.
UK Labour's shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said Mr Sunak and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng should "hammer out a deal to help hospitality".
He said: “Those businesses are having a hard time at the moment and we want government to be by their side.
“We understand the chancellor is currently out of the country in California. So perhaps he might want to get himself on a flight back and get a grip on the situation, because businesses need certainty and confidence now."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel