Furlough scheme to be extended till September

This comes as Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will reveal the annual Budget later today in the House of Commons at 12.30 pm.

It is thought that the scheme, which pays 80% of employees' wages during the hours they cannot work due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be extended to accommodate grants for around 600,000 more self-employed workers.

This comes after the chancellor's previous criticism from self-employed people who were not eligible to receive support from the previous scheme.

The extension hopes to support millions of workers during "the challenging months ahead", although the opposition has said that this announcement is months overdue.

While the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been praised for slowing the rate of unemployment as businesses remain on standby during lockdown restrictions, it is feared that the Budget could include plans to raise some taxes in preparation for the challenging economic times ahead.