The MP for Brent North has warned of huge job losses as the furlough scheme across the UK ends.

Brent was one of five local authorities in the capital with the highest proportions of jobs on furlough at July 31, 2021.

The borough had 13,900 workers furloughed at the end of July, down 2,400 from 16,300 at the end of June.

Latest figures for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) show that there were 484,000 employers with 1.6 million staff on furlough on July 31, this year.

In June, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak rejected business demands for an extension of the furlough scheme.

Job losses are expected.

Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North spoke of "real concerns".

"Coming off furlough a lot of companies are going to be laying off people," he said.

"What a lot of companies are doing now is saying 'either you accept worse conditions and lower wages or be fired.

"If employees refuse to accept degraded terms and conditions and lower wages they can be fired with companies saying they are not making them redundant so they do not have to make redundancy payments. It's really insidious."

He added: "There are huge industrial relations going on at the moment.

"A lot of companies are doing it are companies who have not been affected by the pandemic but companies that made substantial profits.

"There's a real concern this will become a quick method of getting rid of people.

"People need to become aware of their rights and if they can, become a member of a union as soon as possible so they can fight this together."

Chief secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke told Sky News on Thursday: “Obviously there will be a variety of outcomes, I don’t have an estimate with me today. There will be some job losses.”

He added: “Furlough has protected 11.6 million jobs in total … at some point you have to end these emergency measures.

“People’s jobs will be created just as some have very sadly been lost, that is part of the process of ending this crisis and going back to normal.”

The minister also claimed: “We never said we could protect every job...

"I think we need to be totally honest about this, the Covid pandemic has taken a toll on our economy, it’s changed some things,” he said.

Cllr Tom Stephens, lead member for schools, employment and skills at Brent Council said: "With the end of furlough, we know that this is an uncertain time for many people who are now facing the possibility of redundancy.

"Therefore, as part of the £17 million Recovery Fund Cabinet recently approved, from this month we will be investing a further £500,000 in new employment support and skills programmes – targeted at our most vulnerable residents.

"For those who need an extra helping hand to get through a difficult period, emergency grants and interest-free loans are available through Brent’s Resident’s Support Fund to cover bills or debts."