The furlough scheme fails on fairness, compassion and kindness

Hats off to the Chancellor for the Furlough scheme. It is well intentioned. It has, and will, alleviate much suffering.

The problem is that it is severely regressive. And because it is regressive — far from contributing to the claimed government policy of levelling up — it intensifies inequality.

80% support up to £2500 of salary sounds generous, and is generous. The profound problem is that those living in the Precariat — those struggling financially to get through each day, or each week — are given no help to live lives that are less precarious. 80% of a non-existent salary is still nothing.

They may be caring, or shielding relatives, or they may be on zero hours contracts that now really do provide zero hours work. Their income is consistently inadequate to cope with the costs of day to day living. Hence the rapid growth in the use of food banks.

For them, and those like them, the anxiety can be unrelenting. Constantly fearful, with stress racking them hourly, mental health deteriorates. And in an economy heading for even worse times, there is little hope of employment, or relief.

My new book is about developing agility and resilience. Written just before Covid19, it is now even more relevant. I argue in it that agility is vital, but only if grounded in a strong moral framework. Otherwise, it can be counterproductive and dangerous. The four key principles I submit are the key principles that underpin the world’s great religions: Honesty, Fairness, Compassion, and Kindness.

Unfortunately the Furlough scheme fails on three of the four. To the Precariat, living lives of stress and constant anxiety to find ways to survive, and pay bills, it is demonstrably not Fair. And it certainly isn’t Compassionate or Kind.

Being cynical, it could be argued it is Honest within this government’s own ideology. Right wing governments tend hold it as a central tenet of their belief system that those who need to claim benefits and financial support are lazy, idle and feckless. They therefore do not need handouts, but policies that “encourage” them to mend their ways, and find work. While a more truly honest approach might be to assess conditions in which people are really living, and what financial support they might need to live lives not permanently stressed by poverty, or the threat of poverty.

The furlough scheme is an agile response to an extremely challenging situation, and should be applauded as such. How sad that it wasn’t grounded genuinely in the four principles of Honesty, Fairness, Compassion and Kindness.

Rather than tipping more and more of the Just-About-Managing into the hell of Nowhere-Near-Managing.