The UK government has no plans to implement a system providing citizens with a universal basic income during the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak as the measures already introduced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak are sufficient, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in parliament on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) The UK government has no plans to implement a system providing citizens with a universal basic income during the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak as the measures already introduced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak are sufficient, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in parliament on Wednesday.
Raab, who is standing in for Boris Johnson during the prime minister's recovery from COVID-19, made these comments in response to the Scottish National Party's leader in the House of Commons Ian Blackford, who stated that a proposal to establish a system of universal basic income had cross-party support.
"I don't agree with his point on the universal income. The chancellor has, I think quite rightly, adopted and announced a series of measures, second to none in the world, to support workers through the job retention scheme," the foreign secretary stated.
He added that the UK government was focused on providing financial assistance to those who need it most.
"We want to make sure we provide the support to those who need it most. A universal approach, uniform without reference to need or income or the most vulnerable in our society is not the way I respectfully suggest to achieve it," Raab said.
Later in the parliamentary session, Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted that it would likely be impossible for the government to provide medical masks free of charge to the country's population during the outbreak.
"I can't promise that we will give everybody free masks, that would be an extraordinary undertaking and we do have to make sure that we do have supplies available especially for health and care staff where the scientific advice that the wearing of masks is necessary in those circumstances and we've got to make sure that provision is there for them," Hancock said in response to a question posed by Labour lawmaker Hilary Benn.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak in March announced that the UK government will guarantee employees as much as 80 percent of their wages, up to 2,500 Pounds per month ($3,090) during the COVID-19 outbreak. This scheme was later extended to include self-employed workers.
