Rishi Sunak to announce £500m ‘plan for jobs’ extension

The chancellor will lay out a package of measures designed to stem rise in unemployment as furlough endsRishi Sunak will announce a £500m extension to his “plan for jobs” on Monday as the government tries to avoid a surge in unemployment after the furl…

‘Missing workforce’ could ease Britain’s labour market crisis

Vacancies are at record levels, so why are millions of people looking for jobs and what can be done to help them?When Caroline Cousin was made redundant from her job as a legal secretary in Greater Manchester during the first lockdown, she was warned s…

Ditching furlough scheme will add to UK’s economic woes, warn unions and firms

Rishi Sunak criticised for cutting off wage-subsidy lifeline that still supports over a million jobsRishi Sunak’s decision to wind up the furlough scheme today will intensify Britain’s economic woes, an array of unions, business groups, employment expe…

‘My future is overseas’: Tunisians look to Europe as Covid hits tourism

As the pandemic deals a death blow to an already struggling sector, former workers see little hope for recoveryThe seafront along the town of Hammamet in Tunisia is deserted. Looking out at the bright empty coast from his souvenir shop, Kais Azzabi, 42…

Generation X are heavy, risky drinkers. Will anything ever persuade us to stop?

Alcohol’s allure was powerful when we were growing up and those born after us consume far less. Now booze is falling out of fashion, is it time to assess old habits?My first job in journalism was editing a free magazine called Rasp. In 1995, we ran a c…