WATCH: Join up health with economic response, Labour tells government

Labour’s Bridget Phillipson has said that the government must “join up its health response and its economic response” and called for it to ensure an effective test, track and isolate strategy is in place.

In an interview with BBC Breakfast this morning, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury discussed the Covid-19 response and said that the government was “slow on the health side – they can’t be slow on the economy”.

She stressed the need for consumers to get “back on the high street”, but argued that the “lack of an effective test, track and isolate strategy is making it harder for the public to have confidence that it’s safe”.

The comments from Phillipson come ahead of a financial statement from Rishi Sunak this afternoon, in which he will outline the government’s coronavirus recovery plan for the economy.

The Labour Party has repeatedly called for the Chancellor to bring forward a “back-to-work Budget” with a strong focus on “jobs, jobs, jobs” to prevent mass unemployment.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has said that a jobs guarantee scheme “for every young person facing long-term unemployment, paid at a real living wage, must be the cornerstone of any plan to save jobs”.

Doing the media round at the weekend, Anneliese Dodds urged the government to scrap its “one-size-fits-all” approach to providing support and encouraged a sector-specific approach.

The Shadow Chancellor said: “Let’s have an approach which reflects the fact this is an economic crisis which is affecting sectors differently. Different sectors really need that strong support now.”

Jim McMahon last week called for the furlough scheme to be extended into next year, while Lucy Powell has warned that changes in August requiring contributions from employers will be a “step too far” for many businesses.