Furlough loophole: Man 'utterly devastated' as he fears his family could 'lose everything'

He says of his most recent employer: “They’re really good people and it’s not their fault.

“I don’t blame my company because if they could, they would [furlough me], and I know they would, because why wouldn’t they?”

Mr Sapphire, 46, has been in full-time employment for many years, and his wife is a key worker at the local primary school.

The father-of-three, who lives in Boris Johnson’s constituency of Uxbridge & Ruislip, said: “We’re good, wholesome, law-abiding, reasonable people. We’ve done nothing wrong and feel utterly utterly devastated and let down by Rishi and Boris who are forgetting about people like me.“

After finding the news, Mr Sapphire has discovered an “astounding” number of people on social media who have been affected by the loophole.

“It’s unbelievable how many people’s worlds have fallen apart,” he says. “People are petrified right now, and experiencing such distress, and worry and fear for no reason of their own.

“They’ve done nothing wrong. I feel so sorry for so many people.”

Mr Sapphire is worried about telling his children what’s happened, not wanting to cause them distress and worry.

But, he fears for how his family will get through this. “I’m going to lose everything unless they put this right,” he says.