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Sunak: Extending furlough would trap people in false hope

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak visits the Jobcentre Plus in east London

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday it was wrong to keep people "trapped" in situations of false hope, when asked if he would extend the job furlough scheme for the sectors of the economy hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

"It's wrong to keep people trapped in a situation and pretend that there is always a job that they can go back to," Rishi Sunak told BBC Radio Scotland.

He said the government had taken action to provide people with new opportunities, including apprenticeships and training during what "is unquestionably going to be a difficult time".

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton, writing by Andy Bruce)