Coronavirus: 'Furlough must be extended for aviation staff'

Crawley MP Henry Smith has written to the Treasury urging the Chancellor Rishi Sunak not to end the scheme in October as planned.

Mr Smith, who chairs the Future of Aviation Group in Parliament, said the aviation industry will take “far longer” to recover than other sectors and workers need support.

“The Government must extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme beyond October to support the millions of jobs in these sectors and to allow them to play their full role in our economic recovery,” he wrote.

Crawley MP Henry Smith says the furlough scheme should be extended past October for those in the aviation industry

“Cutting off this support before these sectors have been able to recover will have disastrous consequences for everyone in the country.

“Aviation is an economic enabler and it will be central to rebuilding our economy.”

The letter was signed by dozens of MPs from across the country.

East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton was the only other Sussex MP to sign the letter.

• At The Argus, we are championing the work of traders during the coronavirus pandemic as part of our #BackingSussexBusiness campaign. We are always interested to hear how the community is coming together in this crisis. If you know of a local business battling to do all it can in these tough times and/or offering support to the local community, please get in touch at laurie.churchman@theargus.co.uk and rose.lock@theargus.co.uk.