Rishi Sunak will make a statement to Parliament tomorrow as speculation mounts that he will announce a replacement for the furlough scheme.
The Tory Chancellor has made clear furlough will end on October 31 - a move unions and Labour fear will throw millions of workers into unemployment.
But after Boris Johnson announced a string of new lockdown rules, it is now thought he could announce a new type of wage subsidy scheme to help workers after Halloween.
The Chancellor is said to be looking at a 'short working hours' scheme where workers would remain part-time and have some of their wage subsidised by the government.