Economic impact of Coronavirus

[Wrangodog]

Priti Patel saying that a family of four can't stop to talk to another family of four because that would be “mingling ". Not going to work. 

[Scooter]

3 hours ago, killie1961 said:

That will keep Prince Charlie another one that does not stick to the rules when he sped up to Balmoral from London when he should have isolated

Doff cap, tug forelock, vote status quo ...this is whattcha get! 

Mon' the grousers 

[Dieter's Heeder]

See Spain are recording 156 deaths yesterday and 239 today. Any notion that these stats aren't rising alarmingly is sadly just that, a notion. The UK a few weeks behind. 

[killie1961]

1 hour ago, Dieter's Heeder said:

See Spain are recording 156 deaths yesterday and 239 today. Any notion that these stats aren't rising alarmingly is sadly just that, a notion. The UK a few weeks behind. 

Its coming our way needless deaths on the way and just our luck we have the most hopeless tory govt with an elitist arsehole in charge had 6 months  to set up a test and trace system which was to be world beating changing a international treaty sureley even those brexiteers or the ones with a brain now know they have voted in a dead horse maybe he should look for another fridge to hide in or look for another ditch

[Bonbon19]

I see Mr Vallance is getting a bit of stick for his share portfolio. If he was an MP he would have been obliged to declare a conflict of interest . Makes you wonder about every other member of SAGE 

[Killiepies]

More cash getting put into the economy and extended furlough scheme 

 

Rishi Sunak will unveil a multi-billion pound 'winter plan' today with a VAT cut and new 'flexible furlough' for staff returning part-time after dire warnings that 540,000 hospitality jobs could be lost. 

The Chancellor cancelled plans for a full-scale Budget in November, with sources saying it was 'not the time' for long-term plans.

Instead he will map out an emergency 'Winter Economy Plan' today designed to help firms cope with new Covid restrictions which Boris Johnson has warned will last for six months.

Whitehall sources last night said the Chancellor's plans would include a new wage subsidy scheme modelled on a German scheme that helps fund salaries at firms where there is only enough work to go back part-time.

Government officials are looking at whether the state can help cover the costs for staff able to do 50 to 60 percent of their normal hours, according to the Financial Times, which would be considerably cheaper to run than the furlough scheme that has cost almost £4 billion in the last four weeks.

By comparison, the German kurzarbeit (short- working) model would cost around £500 million a month.

The 'flexible furlough' scheme would allow for companies to hack back workers' hours while keeping them on their books, with the Government making up the difference but with a cap for salaries up to around £30,000, according to the Sun. 

As the Archbishops of Canterbury and York warned of the economic costs of Covid:

Hospitality groups said a quarter of pubs and restaurants could go bust this year; 

HMRC and Goldman Sachs were among employers abandoning their drives to get people back to the office;

Pictures showed high streets boarded up as shops reacted to the clampdown; 

The travel industry faced fresh despair when Downing Street warned of the risk of booking half-term holidays; 

Upper Crust and Caffe Ritazza are keeping two thirds of outlets shut; 

MPs demanded extra help for theatre and music venues;

No 10 said a ban on household visits could be extended across large swathes of England;

A mobile tracing app is finally being rolled out – four months late;

Matt Hancock's target for half a million virus tests a day by the end of next month was under threat from equipment shortages;

Scientific advisers suggested that students could be told to remain on campus over Christmas.

Mr Sunak is also expected to extend a number of cheap loan schemes for business. And the Prime Minister hinted yesterday there would be additional help for the self-employed. 

Ministers are also looking at a bailout scheme for struggling sports clubs hit by a ban on crowds. 

This year's VAT cut for the hospitality and tourism industry to 5 percent, which has cost £4 billion, was due to last until January but will now run until the end of March, The Times reported. 

Treasury sources said the Chancellor had rejected calls to extend the £35billion furlough scheme, despite warnings that its closure at the end of next month could result in more than one million redundancies.

'The Chancellor has shown he has been creative in the past and hopes that people will trust us to continue in that vein,' a source said. 'Giving people reassurance and businesses the help they need to get through this is uppermost in his mind.' Mr Sunak played a pivotal role in helping persuade Mr Johnson not to move to an immediate second lockdown this week.

But the decision to tighten Covid restrictions on the hospitality sector and order millions of office staff to work from home until spring has put him under huge pressure to bring forward more support.

Today he is expected to warn that the Treasury does not have a bottomless pit of money to prop up the economy indefinitely – and cannot save every job.

Allies said he would be 'very honest with people' about the 'difficult trade-offs' the Government faces as it tries to deal with the twin challenges of surging Covid cases and a battered economy.

'It is not about health versus the economy, but about the balance between keeping people in jobs and finding them new ones,' the source said.

The Treasury was tight-lipped about the Chancellor's plans last night. But it is understood he will press ahead with a version of Germany's 'kurzarbeit' scheme, which ensures workers who have had their hours cut by struggling firms receive a minimum of 60 per cent of their lost pay.

 

A similar scheme proposed by the Confederation of British Industry would see subsidies for firms that can offer staff at last 50 per cent of their normal hours, with the cost for non-working hours shared equally by the company, the Treasury and the employee.

The final scheme is likely to be significantly cheaper than furlough, which has paid 80 per cent of the wages of staff unable to work and helped protect 9.6million jobs. But it will fall short of demands from Labour and the unions for the furlough scheme to continue indefinitely.

In the Commons yesterday, Mr Johnson was repeatedly urged to extend the furlough scheme in the wake of his decision to tighten Covid restrictions for at least six months.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urged him to 'stop and rethink, support the businesses affected, not to withdraw furlough'.

Mr Johnson said the furlough scheme had 'already been extended' once, adding: 'I do not think that it would be sensible simply to extend the current existing furlough scheme in its present form beyond the end of October.

'But we will do everything we can to support businesses and to support those in jobs and, indeed, the self-employed.'

But we will do everything we can to support businesses and to support those in jobs and, indeed, the self-employed.'

Mr Johnson said the Government had already paid out £160billion to prop up the economy, with business support more generous than in most other countries.

Entrepreneur and former Pizza Express boss Luke Johnson told the BBC's Newsnight programme that closure of the furlough scheme at a time when the economy was still operating under tight restrictions would lead to mass redundancies next month. 'I would estimate of the three million [still on the furlough scheme], at least a million... will be made redundant,' he said.

The decision to cancel the Budget is a blow to the Treasury's hopes of getting the public finances back on a more even keel.

Mr Sunak had been considering tax rises to help offset a budget deficit expected to top £300billion this year. But decisions on tax will now have to be delayed until next year.

The cancellation of the Budget could also prove a blow to the aviation industry, which had been hoping for a cut in Air Passenger Duty.

A Government source last night told the Mail that ministers were also looking at a rescue package for threatened football and rugby clubs.

'We cannot have a situation where local football clubs are going to the wall,' the source said. 'They and other similar sports clubs are critical parts of their communities.'

 

 

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8765851/Coronavirus-Rishi-Sunak-unveil-Winter-plan-help-firms.html

[Scooter]

This is what we're up against, ask a fairly reasonable question and watch the reply...

Arrogant, unprepared, entitled arseholes the lot of them! 

[RAG]

That clip is appallingly bad for Hancock.  You’ll see that played back a few times for sure. Sadly with a majority of 80 odd, they can stand up and spout this weak as piss nonsense for 4 more years. 

Shows at heart of current Tories, faced with defending the indefensible, they resort to type and politics of ‘divide and rule’ when put on the ropes.  Will see it dozens of times over winter, as they’re cornered over Brexit and the Covid situation.