NEWS 5
28 March 2020 THE WEEK
...and how they were covered
Atanyothertimeinourcountry’shistory,the
rescuepackageunveiledbyRishiSunaklast
weekwouldhavebeen“unimaginable”,said
TheTimes.Inhisthirdmajorinterventionin
justtendays,theChancellorannouncedaraft
ofmeasureswhichwereunprecedentedin
theirscope.Upendingdecadesofeconomic
orthodoxy,hesaidthestatewouldcover 8 0%
ofworkers’salaries–uptoalimitof£2,50 0
amonth–tokeepthemonthepayrollduring
thecrisis.It’s“oneofthemostgenerous
schemesofitskindanywhereintheworld”.
Andthat’snotall:Sunakalsopledgeda
£1, 000 ayearriseinUniversalCredit
payments;adeferraluntiltheendofJune
onbusinesses’VATpayments;anextension
ofinterest-freeloansupto£5mforsmall
businesses;and£1bntohelptenantson
welfare.Itallcomesatan“eye-wateringcost”
–anestimated£ 78 bn,ontopofthebusinessbailoutpackage
worth£350bnhehadannouncedalready–butthescaleof
thiseconomiccrisismeanttheGovernmenthad“nochoice”.
It’s a“huge gamble”, said Alex Brummerin theDailyMail.
What Britain is doingfar exceeds stepstaken byotherWestern
nations–though the US is nowfollowing suitwitha$2trn
stimuluspackage, sendingmarkets soaring.The Tories have
abandonedtheir usual “squeamishness” aboutpropping up
strugglingbusinesses, opting insteadto “save everything –
goodand bad–inthe greater publicinterest”.And,with
borrowingset to surge topay for thepackage, theBank of
England has chippedintoo. ItsnewGovernor,AndrewBailey,
slashed interest rates torecordlows–0.1% –andunveiled a
£200bn quantitativeeasing programme,pumping money
directly into the economy. Thisis themostfar-reaching
packageto protect workers andbusinessesin our nation’s
history: “All we cando nowis prayitworks.”
Thereformsaremassive,agreedChristopher Pissaridesinthe
FT–butthey stilldon’t gofar enough.Sure, you’re protected
ifyou’reinfull-timeemployment.Buthelp
fortheUK’sfivemillionself-employedis
“conspicuouslyabsent”;they’vesofaronly
beenofferedbenefitsequivalenttostatutory
sickpay,£ 94 aweek.Thesepeopledrivethe
UKeconomy:byfailingtohelpthem,werisk
harmingeffortstopropitup.Small
businessesarebeingbatteredtoo,saidEd
ConwayinTheTimes.Pubs,restaurantsand
hairdressersareimploding,whilethetravel
andhospitalityindustriesare“disintegrating”.
We’renowinthe“worstrecessioninliving
memory”,saidAllisterHeathinTheDaily
Telegraph.Thousandshavelosttheirjobs
already,andmillionsmorewillfollow.GDP
couldplungebyasmuchas15%.Andwhile
crashesinthepasthavehada“cleansing”
effect,forcingbadbusinessestocloseand
divertingresourcestogrowthindustries,this
oneisdifferent:“Thereisnothingcreativeaboutthenihilistic
destructionitiswreaking.”Sunak’scureisanecessaryone,
saidJeremyWarnerinthesamepaper,butitwillcomeat
aterriblecost.Britainfaces“humongous”increasesin
borrowing,leavingfuture generationsburdenedwith
intolerable debtandhigher taxes.
Maybe so,said Will HuttoninThe Observer,but they should
stillbe deeplygrateful to Britain’s youngChancellor.Our
financial systemapproachedtotal breakdown lastweek; the
Bank of Englandeven cameclose toshutting marketsto stop
the freefall. But, amidstthe turmoil,Sunak proved himself
to be “highlyintelligent, economicallyliterate, agile”and
politicallysavvy, offeringleadership anddecisiveness.
Now, governmentsacross Europe andinNorthAmericaare
followinghis example,unveilingtheir ownstimulus plans on
similarscales.Economistshave beenmodelling acrisis like this
for years,said TorstenBellin the same paper–andestimates
of a5%fall in globalGDP look about right. Thereis, though,
aglimmer ofhope.“Growth picksup prettyquickly post
pandemic–ourjobis togetthere.”
Sunak:rippinguptherulebook
The £400bn bailout: can it stave off disaster?
What kind ofanation are we? What are we British people to make
of ourselves at this time of national crisis? Health Secretary Matt
Hancock would have us display the same qualities our grandparents
showedduringtheWar:rallyingtogether, keepingcalm, soldiering on. But judgingfrom thenegative
response to his exhortation, what best defines the spirit of the nation right now is something quite
different:adelight in doing ourselves down. On the one side, we have those–67% of respondents to
aDaily Express poll, for example–who feel we’re no longer capable of such stoicism. “I was born in
early WWII, and remember the Blitz spirit,” as one put it. “Today’s selfish generation wouldn’t under-
stand what it meant.” On the other, we have those, generally more leftish in outlook, who deny there
was any such thing asaBlitz spirit in the first place. It was “bunk”, they say:amyth (see page 17).
Of course, if you look for bad behaviour, it’s never hard to find. In 1939, people were just as self-
seeking when the crisis broke as 2020’s stockpilers. “The call for restraint was widely ignored,” says
Barry Turner in The Times. “Tins of meat, baked beans, cheese, biscuits and fruit were swept from
the shelves.” One woman pitched up ataDorset garage withabig dustbin, insisting it be filled with
petrol. Yet who we are, what defines us, is as much what we strive to be as how we actually behave.
As acts of kindness spread across Britain, as we stoically greet each other across our two-metre
divides, the myth of who we once were can give shape to what we become.
THEWEEK
Jeremy O'Grady
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