James O'Brien warns of looming furlough cliff-edge when scheme ends

6 August 2020, 14:08 | Updated: 6 August 2020, 14:10

James O'Brien warned that the UK faces a huge unemployment issue when the furlough scheme ends at the end of October.

The most recent figures suggest 9.6million jobs in the UK are furloughed, meaning the government is paying 80% of their wages.

Rishi Sunak's scheme is currently planned to end on 31st October. And after speaking to a caller who is struggling to find a job, James feared the situation is going to get a lot worse.

Speaking on his LBC show, he said: "These are scary times. October 31st looks to me to be big. It looks to me to be potentially huge.

"I would love you to call me to tell me that it isn't going to be a klaxon, a guillotine, a cliff-edge - insert your own cliche at this point.

James O'Brien warned of a looming cliff-edge over furlough. Picture: LBC

"Come October 31st, potentially there's going to be hundreds of thousands of people piling into a jobs market that already has 1,200 people applying for a handful of jobs."

Watch his monologue at the top of the page.