Companies bailed out with public money have paid shareholders billions of pounds in dividends while cutting tens of thousands of jobs, a VICE News investigation can reveal.
Campaigners and commentators have criticised the bail-out for being offered with minimal conditions, and say that companies have put shareholders’ interests above those of their employees.
On the 17th of March, with the economic implications of the coronavirus becoming clear, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the launch of the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) – a scheme to support large firms that make a “material contribution to the UK economy”.
