REGIONS that depend on industries most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic are at risk of suffering from deepened inequality if the government does not extend its furlough scheme, Labour warned today.

Retail has been the sector hardest hit by mass redundancies since the pandemic began, with manufacturing and aviation also badly affected.

Tens of thousands of job losses have been announced and more redundancies are expected in these sectors, yet they have received no tailored support for when the government’s jobs-retention scheme is scheduled to finish at the end of October.