Covid-19: UK open-minded on extending furlough says Michael Gove

The first ministers from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are among those taking part in the meeting

The UK government is "open-minded" on SNP calls to extend furlough, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has said.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants the job support scheme extended "for as long as it is needed".

The call came ahead of a virtual meeting between Boris Johnson and the three devolved administrations on how to emerge from the Covid pandemic.

The summit was postponed after the Scottish and Welsh first ministers criticised the "very rough" agenda.

Ms Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford said the discussion needed to be "meaningful" and had asked Mr Johnson to provide more detail of the meeting's schedule.

Mr Johnson called the summit in the wake of the election results in Great Britain earlier this month, which saw Ms Sturgeon's Scottish National Party (SNP) returned to government in Scotland and Mr Drakeford's Labour triumph in Wales.

Downing Street said the meeting - which was scheduled to begin at 13:30 BST - was an opportunity to share information and ideas on the way ahead.

The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Boris Johnson

First Minister Ms Sturgeon said that the four-nation meeting could not be "a PR exercise" and that getting "certainty over funding... is the bare minimum or our expectations".

Ahead of the summit, the SNP urged the UK government to consider extending furlough "beyond September if this is required".

The party also said those who have started jobs since 2 March 2021 should be able to be furloughed if needed.

The furlough scheme - officially called the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) - was launched in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, to minimise unemployment.

It now covers up to 80% of an employee's salary for the hours they cannot work, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

The scheme is currently due to expire at the end of September.

Speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland, Mr Gove said he was "open-minded" on the SNP's proposal.

He added that furlough scheme was a "huge success" that was only possible "thanks to the broad shoulders of the UK Treasury".

He also said Scotland would benefit from more spending by the UK government adding "it is absolutely vital that we build back better."

In an earlier statement, Mr Gove said the four nations' "joint success" on fighting Covid had "shown the world what we can achieve as a United Kingdom.

"We must take the same approach to the difficult challenge of rebuilding our economy and public services from the damaging impact of Covid-19."

Mr Gove, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the secretaries of state for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are also expected to attend the meeting.

There is a practical side to this meeting and, as ever, a political one.

Officials in Downing Street say the prime minister wants to hear how the different parts of the UK are emerging from lockdown.

There will be a discussion on how ideas can be shared and how links created during the pandemic can be maintained.

But Number 10 will also want to reinforce the message that being part of the UK has helped in the fight against Covid.

The meeting is expected to hear that the success of the vaccine rollout was down to the buying power of the UK government and supplies being sourced through London.

The work of members of the British armed forces who helped in the rollout of the vaccine will also be highlighted.

The virtual meeting with political representatives from across the UK will also examine how the pandemic has placed extra burdens on the health service and disrupted the education of millions of pupils and students.

On Tuesday, the UK announced zero Covid deaths for the first time since the pandemic began, with a government adviser saying the latest coronavirus data looks encouraging.

The timetable for relaxing Covid measures varies across the UK.

In Northern Ireland, ministers have been gradually introducing major relaxations of the Covid restrictions, with indoor hospitality, tourist accommodation and non-essential retail all allowed to reopen with mitigations in place. The next review is due on 10 June.

There is currently a debate going on in England as to whether restrictions should be ended on 21 June.

In Wales, the health minister has said the easing of restrictions - due to be reviewed on Thursday - could be affected by a "very serious" cluster of the Delta variant in Conwy county.

It comes a day after the relaxing of measures in Scotland was paused for millions of people in areas where cases have been rising.