Tough times still lie ahead for Portsmouth residents despite chancellor's £30bn jobs support package
POLITICIANS have welcomed a £30bn support package to try and kick-start the economy - but warned ‘tough times’ still lie ahead for city residents.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed his huge spending proposal to the nation, which he hoped will help revive the nation’s struggling leisure and hospitality industry.
And the funding has been broadly welcomed by leaders from across the political divide.
Cabinet minister and Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt said the new measures by Mr Sunak would help to ‘create jobs’, ‘reduce household bills’ and ‘incentivise employers to retain furloughed workers’.
The Tory high-flyer insisted the chancellor’s new ‘eat out to help out’ discount meals voucher scheme would ‘encourage people’ to dine in the area’s restaurants, pubs and cafe.
‘Portsmouth is a hugely entrepreneurial and resilient place, we have tough times ahead – for businesses and for individuals, but we will get through it,’ Ms Mordaunt added.
Flick Drummond, Tory MP for for Meon Valley, said the cash measures had given ‘unprecedented and generous support to those hit hardest’ by the coronavirus crisis.
She added: ‘There is no doubt we have very challenging times ahead and the government cannot save every job and every business but I think these latest announcements shows, once again, this government is doing all it can to help as many people as it can get through this crisis.’
However, Labour’s shadow armed forces minister Stephen Morgan felt the chancellor’s announcement did not go far enough.
The Portsmouth South MP said it was ‘too early to know the exact size of the economic shock’ caused by the crisis and that a full and ‘real budget’ - not a ‘brief financial statement’ - should have been announced.
He said: ‘Whilst there are a number of measures in the statement today that I welcome - including support to the hospitality sector - we must ask what is in this for Portsmouth’s future?
‘The sacrifices made by us all must be followed up with a targeted recovery plan that gets the economy back on its feet, brings real investment to our city and boosts local jobs and businesses.
‘We need a proper plan from government not a one-size-fits-all approach dictated from Westminster. With all the challenges our communities now face, our city’s economy can ill afford to wait until the autumn for that.’