Offering money to companies to see them through a couple of months when they are not by law allowed to trade was necessary. It was right for the government to pay the wages of staff who have jobs but are not allowed to do them, so that the workforce is available to start up again as soon as the lockdown is lifted. It was right to offer money to the self employed who were also banned from earning a living.
Government now needs to handle the return to work well. The state cannot afford to carry on paying out large sums to companies that do not have enough turnover. The only way to sustain our living standards is to get everyone back to work. There are will be some businesses that were declining before the shut downs. They may need to make a bigger adjustment now as the shut down probably accelerated their decline.
There will be other businesses that had a great business model prior to the lock down that will now be damaged by the changed conditions created by the anti virus policies. Travel and hospitality will have to change the way they work for as long as social distancing remains, and plan for reduced workloads for sometime after lifting of the shut down.
There are then a range of businesses which gained market share out of the shut downs and who may continue to grow well even after the end of the exceptional times for on line retail, internet conferencing, remote working service and supplies, home entertainments and other technology winners.
What we do not want is to search for some top down government led model of backing winners, interfering with customer choices and deciding who to subsidise and what changes to lifestyle they require.
The danger is some companies that were short of cash owing to lock down end up insolvent because they do not experience a surge of returning business once the lock down is lifted. The government does not have the resources to keep all companies going that lack a strong business offer for the new conditions post shutdown. The private sector has the means to lend money and to buy shares. Large companies have access to low interest rates on bank finance and bonds, and can raise additional capital from shareholders. They can and are conserving cash by not paying dividends or buying back shares where they need to be careful with the money.
May 27, 2020
Yes but does Dominic Cummings agree with this or not ?
Politics is the ability to effect change. He is clearly the man in charge of the UK since Boris Johnson fly to the rescue of his âidea manâ as any good spear carrier should.
So please tell us what is Domâs view of the above.
May 27, 2020
Politics should be the ability to give an environment where everyone can perform.
We really do not need those who want to effect their changes again.
May 27, 2020
Yawn
May 28, 2020
Almost 20:00, time for the little ones to go to bed.
May 28, 2020
to affect not that I can spell – one imagines his view like most sensible people is that we should all get back to work as soon as practically possible. Except perhaps those many people in the state sector who do more harm than good. They should be released to get a real jobs.
Have they found out who did this civil service tweet yet?
May 27, 2020
Why have the government not allowed business owners to borrow from their private pension funds to assist their businesses as they have in Australia? What is there to be lost from this?
I caught a little of the new BoE chap yesterday. He did not seem very impressive . The last organisation he lead seems to have encourages âone size fits allâ overdraft rate of 40% is was (78%) at one bank disguised as OD fees. Why in a supposedly free market are banks able to get away with charging 40% on all overdrafts while paying 0.2% or less on deposits? You pay 200 times what they do. A shame he did not do maths or physics at Queens College Cambridge instead of history. His PHD thesis was The impact of the Napoleonic Wars on the development of the cotton industry in Lancashire: a study of the structure and behaviour of firms during the Industrial Revolution. Might come in handy perhaps?
May 27, 2020
The questioning of him was not very good either.
May 27, 2020
Clearly, the Government must be alert to unfair competition faced by British businesses from foreign firms enjoying subsidies and bail-outs extended by foreign governments.
May 27, 2020
Good morning
Government never backs winners, only losers. The winners it uses to extract monies from their profits. This money goes into grand schemes and various benefits to buy votes. Winners and workers do not need such patronage.
The problem for the government is, how is it going to pay back all the money it has borrowed ? Taxing will just slow down the economy. My fear is, that there will be more money printing to inflate the debt away.
What a mess.
May 27, 2020
The excess death figure were released again yesterday. They are now down to about 4000 excess deaths per week, which is now little worse than bad winter week. Though it must be a total circa 70,000 excess deaths up to todayâs date.
Certainly time to get back to work though.
May 27, 2020
Really, just look at some of the comments you made at the start of this ‘crisis’??
zorro
May 28, 2020
zorro: “Really, just look at some of the comments you made at the start of this âcrisisâ??”
đ
May 27, 2020
If a business lacks working capital then the owners must put in the money required. If the business is a ltd company then itâs the shareholders who must provide the funds.
May 27, 2020
Yep – but there haven’t been many rights issues of late, which surprises me.
May 27, 2020
Let’s conveniently ignore, for political convenience of course, the criminal destruction of financial resources in all State run, public organisations. It’s a pity the Tory government and their MP’s in Parliament choose to ignore the wholesale abuse of captured, unionised, taxpayer funded public organisations.
And here we have another Conservative MP directing his advice to the private sector about how they should conduct their affairs
Maybe Sir John should turn his attention to public sector reform or is he concerned he may stir up a hornet’s nest from the now increasingly aggressive Marxist unions?
The private sector is an EASY target. We can’t fight back so getting a kicking from so called Conservative politicians is the norm but it does display the new socialist mindset of the leftward leaning (leftward for political convenience) party that now finds itself genuflecting and praying at the altar of Unite’s (Labour) client state
I’ll say this again. The unions have Johnson by the cojones. This is what happens when a Tory party capitulates to the left and their activists.
Do us all a favour and change the name of your party to something more appropriate
May 28, 2020
Edward Heath v2.0 ?
May 28, 2020
DOMINIC : “Do us all a favour and change the name of your party to something more appropriate”
Vichy party.
May 27, 2020
But I do want government to be alert to any signs of China making opportunistic acquisitions of Western companies weakened by the Coronavirus crisis. If that means taking equity stakes, or even nationalisation, then so be it. BE ALERT!
May 27, 2020
Vital.
I also think they have a nerve *selling* us PPE. They should be giving it to the world.
May 27, 2020
Yes and the newspapers are filling their pages with opinion pieces quoting crud from this or that alleged expert so the public is completely baffled.
Crucial to our recovery is confidence because there is a lot of pent up demand But many people are still very nervous.
To allay this the government need to stop their scattergun information approach and hone it down to a simple message, am I/where can I be safe? Where and how are people still catching it so I can avoid that? Tell us the truth re masks, Not the current BS designed to protect their supplies. Testing zillions of people, why and so what? How close are we to a quick diagnostic tool,That tells if a person has it (obviously showing no symptoms)
Your message management especially the coconut shy that is the daily briefing, in my view, has been inept and the Cummings episode, I see now more of your MPs are putting themselves before the country, no change there then, an unfortunate sideshow. Close it down. Any questions, give one collective answer. We gave covered it extensively, we have nothing more to add.
May 27, 2020
End social distancing now. There is no evidence that it works or is necessary to stop a catastrophic spread. Covid-19, which is relatively not that deadly anyway, runs out everywhere of its own accord. It wasn’t and isn’t worth destroying the economy over.
May 27, 2020
fully agree with your assessment
May 27, 2020
The case you have made is unanswerable. Ferguson and Imperial Must lose all public funding. Neither ever to darken the door of nr 10 again!
May 27, 2020
It is just a comfort blanket to cover the embarrassment of the huge misjudgement they made in March. End this nonsense now or suffer more stupid rules for time immemorial!
zorro
May 27, 2020
Good morning Sir John
We already see Countries wishing to leverage advantage brought about by the situation we find our selves in. Out of a need and desire to ensure something is left Countries are being drawn in to trade protection. You cant disagree with some of it.
The main problem is not the bailout but the leveraging the situation by Countries that feel the need to dominate.
Lufthansa as we see have been given a 9 billion euro bailout, which gives them significant market clout. More importantly they have been given protection from takeovers.
With that in mind the UK needs to protect ALL UK enterprise from any sort of takeover by foreign entities, other wise the UK will be stripped bear of what is left.
May 27, 2020
The government has chosen to be led by the science of the scientists they have chosen to place around them, but ignored the hundreds of other scientists who disagree with that science. Time to take a much broader look at âthe scienceâ and end social distancing now. Enough is enough and itâs getting ridiculous.
May 27, 2020
same with climate change
May 27, 2020
They keep choosing losers, the same ones, repeatedly! That is what is unforgivable.
May 27, 2020
Not true. This is not how it works. The scientists do not tell the politicians what to do. Instead they give the politicians a range of options. It is the politicians who decide which of the options to go with.
For example the scientists will say a full lockdown is between for health. But ministers have to weigh up the impact on the economy and decide whether it is appropriate.
I donât doubt that our scientists gave all the appropriate options. It is not surprising this incompetent government selected the wrong ones.
May 28, 2020
That’s not correct.
SAGE gave their recommendations as a group.
Those recommendations were published.
You would the first to complain if the Government failed to act on the experts advice.
May 30, 2020
Unfortunately, thatâs not true.
The government released on Friday 29/05 fifty documents including the minutes of 34 SAGE meetings. Whatever was published by the Government was clearly not the recommendations of the SAGE meetings (where in fact not all scientists were having the same view and were anyway only producing advices) but whatever the Government decided was expedient at the time.
Further proof of it is that since the PMâs last briefing (where he prevented the CSO and CMO from answering questions) there are now at least three SAGE members (Prof John Edmunds from LSHTM being the most visible) who have been taking their distances from what the Government is saying.
May 28, 2020
Andy
For once I almost agree with you, the choice of Scientists was the governments, but it should also have used plain undiluted common sense to temper their opinions.
A scientist will never give an absolute definitive point of view, so whilst their input is necessary, no one should regard it as 100% correct.
The biggest failure was to allow thousands of flights to come into the UK from known high risk areas with any form testing isolation plan, etc etc
In my opinion I believe It was hinted, only hinted, by one of the scientists yesterday at the Downing street daily conference, that perhaps up to 10,000 people could have landed here with the virus without perhaps showing symptoms.
With a multiple infection rate of 3 that could account for thousands of people admitted to hospital if that was fact.
May 27, 2020
He who pays the piper calls the tune
zorro
May 27, 2020
I agree wholeheartedly with this statement, âWhat we do not want is to search for some top down government led model of backing winners, interfering with customer choices and deciding who to subsidise and what changes to lifestyle they require.â
We have enough interference from government as it is.
Yesterday, in the supermarket, I was actually pleased to see people not adhering to the arrows on the shop floor. There were few people in the aisles so plenty of room to move safely without being too close. And I felt glad that people werenât just shuffling about like sheep, or in North Korea, but were showing a bit of spine and using their common sense!
May 28, 2020
I’ve never followed the arrows. If anything I go in the opposite direction đ
May 27, 2020
Survival of the fittest then – sounds harsh but it’s how this universe works.
If the majority of businesses are going to survive then the best help the government can do is to reduce taxes heartily all round – That will help their survival.
Start raising any taxes and you might as well pull the plug on UK LTD, because that will just stop the UK dead.
WE need to remember the severity of this lockdown, and the adverse effects – it can never be allowed to happen again – ‘Experts tell us to expect a second wave of CV… Well, now is the time to prepare for … Make our businesses strong… Make the people stronger – there are ways to make immune systems better at surviving CV.
Now is the time to review all successful medical actions in handling CV, so that they can be in place ready.
Spending ÂŁMillions on untested and controversial vaccines is not the answer, and neither are health passports.
May 27, 2020
Some self employed aren’t, too keen to return, why would they, they getting 80% of income. Government will have a problem to get some of these people back to work.
May 27, 2020
Same with furloughed workers and those working at home – “it is too dangerous to return goes the cry”.
With government backing saying it is dangerous who are bosses to argue?
May 27, 2020
The Government should move quickly to a Swedish style lockdown.
It is doubtful whether a lockdown is the righ t way to deal with this type of virus. I hope that the evidence for it is carefully examined.
May 27, 2020
The dilemma for travel and hospitality is that social distancing is not economically sustainable for a lengthy period. The answer , though not a perfect one, is testing and a health visa. Knowing that everyone on your flight or next to you at the hotel pool has been tested negative could be very reassuring, though not perfect. A further test at the mid holiday point would also reassure. It is in the interests of airlines and hotels to have this done independently. How good such a scheme could be is a matter of how long it takes , test to result. If it can be like litmus paper it solves a big problem. Do not sub contract it to any agency whose origins make it open to corruption.
May 27, 2020
LOL I wouldn’t trust this government to run a bath!
zorro
May 28, 2020
meanwhile we are all taking that bath….
May 27, 2020
Indeed, but Unfortunately there is a strong element in the Conservative Party which seems to think that in order to keep the red wall voters we need to adopt socialism in all but name. Big spending on questionable or even fatuous infrastructure, higher taxes, gorging the NHS with money with no hint of reform, perpetual green crap and now it seems perhaps open ended bailouts.
I think it is not true. Red wall voters like other right of centre voters would like to see a calm return to normality, a restoration of growth and public finances, sensible FTAs with the EU and others, and simpler and competitive taxes. It is patronising – and a political misjudgement – to treat red wall voters as dim leftists.
May 27, 2020
Iâm a red wall voter. Iâm a Conservative but my labour supporting neighbours are conservatives with a small âcâ.
May 28, 2020
Lynn
I think a huge majority of labour voters are, that is why they voted for Boris against the possibility of left wing Corbyn.
Starmer is another matter (in comparison to Corbyn), so it may not happen again, at least not to the same degree.
A great deal depends upon Boris delivering on what he promised at the election, he needs to do no more.
May 27, 2020
To summarise: our society, both people and business, is far too reliant on debt and cannot withstand any disruption.
Every government since the war is guilty of relying on an endless increase in consumer debt to keep the house of cards from collapsing.
Will we ever get a government that wants house prices to fall so people donât have to be in debt for most of their working life just to buy some bricks, timber and plasterboard?
May 27, 2020
Govt, in its pursuit of goodness, does tend to back some & discourage others.
Taxes such as those increased on smoking and reduced on green energy moderate consumer behaviour. Govt spurs finest performance with awards. At the other extreme, it reduces supplier and consumer behaviour with imprisonment for drug trafficking.
However, the notion of a Govt-led model ranking for winners is too raw. Competitive markets rapidly sort out what is wanted, bought and sold, and at what price. When conditions change, forcing loyalty to conform to former habits is tantamount to quaint reminiscence. Businesses need to adapt to the new now that emerges each day. Delivering mail by mule could save jobs but doing nothing useful just wastes.
Govt does need to help lead in pursuit of moderating behaviour, intelligently, helpfully but only gently.
May 27, 2020
-Overseas bank shares seem to be paying dividends, so these and other UK shares which are prohibited by government edict or frowning from paying dividends will knock UK stocks and therefore future investment.
-I’m not certain how much the state can pay for consequential losses to businesses prohibited from trading. Legislation always moves and provides for and against business opportunities. -Prudent business will have 3-6 months cash to see them through, and if they are worth saving, they will get round this thing somehow.
More at issue is that the rules for what is happening seem to be vague – vagueness which led to the Cummings situation and many others personally and for business. e.g. some cycle shops open scooping up all the business, others closed financed by government presumably- where does that leave us?
May 27, 2020
The only way to sustain our living standards is to get everyone back to work.
And here is the issue. After 10 years of Conservative government we still have a client state, reliant on handouts and provided services. Not only this but living costs are inflated by having a population that has artificially grown.
Having trashed the economy by scaring the population into hiding there is no longer enough turnover to go round and therefore get everyone back to work. What will the solution be? To import more GDP are we have been doing since 2001?
It may be that saving on travel and office lunch costs plus not socialising means that there is a pot of savings in existence that people will spend once they are allowed out. Again your government and the media has scared the population into not going out so how are they going to spend this money.
I certainly have no desire to queue to get into a shop where I may or may not buy something, also my housing costs (due to the number of people looking for housing) are such that I can’t make large vehicle or white goods purchases so my contribution to increasing GDP will be limited. There is also insufficient public transport to get me to the shops to make any purchases because we have all been told to avoid it.
I suspect that I am not unique
May 28, 2020
Narrow Shoulders
I followed my own advice that I have here right from the beginning. I kept calm and just carried on. I suggest you start doing the same and stop following bad advice.
May 28, 2020
@MarkB
I am extremely calm – I just object to the inconvenience this is causing me and will continue to cause me as the British follow their queuing mentality
But thank you for your advice it is the way of enlightenment.
May 27, 2020
The private sector has the means to lend money and to buy shares.
Your government and the media has created an environment of fear and anxiety. There is not the confidence, even in robust businesses, to invest or lend.
Government has created this situation by its intervention and actions. Turn the printing presses on but change the furlough scheme so that employees can be used productively full time to grow and change businesses until confidence returns (which having people going to work daily can only help).
Do not borrow this money and do not make us pay it back.
May 27, 2020
The government have grossly over-exaggerated the danger of this disease and its subsequent response to it has ruined the nation. They have distilled fear into power and have not the slightest clue how to shut the Pandora’s box they have opened….
zorro
May 27, 2020
Off topic…but how can anyone think about anything else?How on Earth has govt let all this happen?
If they get rid of D.C. then Boris will cave in to an extension.
SURELY after the country helped the tories get a wonderful maj, surely the govt to owes it to us to behave? To put personal dislike aside.
What next? No confidence in Govt?
Is it all a joke or a death wish?
May 27, 2020
Where is the empathy for D.C.??
He had a HORRIBLE virus experience.
Child in hospital.Uncle nearly died.
Whereâs the touchy, feely Leftwing viewpoint now??
Has the Tory party ever read about French Rev?
May 27, 2020
I would have thought that the Complete Works of Edmund Burke was compulsory reading for any prospective Conservative candidate.
May 27, 2020
How is that a relevant reply to Everhporful hef?
Perhaps you might give us the benefit of your huge and mighty IQ
May 28, 2020
Donât you know that? âReflections on the Revolution in Franceâ, Edmund Burke, 1790.
May 28, 2020
Yes I know the book thanks.
I was asking what real relevance it was to Everhopefuls comment.
May 29, 2020
Everhopeful had written âHas the Tory party ever read about the French Rev?â. That might have escaped your eagle eye?
But you are so keen on snuffing out any comment that does not fit with your vision of the world that you are at times simply ridiculous.
May 27, 2020
Uncle did die! Mr Justice Laws. The southerners think that visiting Barnard Castle is a beauty spot. Itâs a town! If Cummings had different priorities he could have âgone home to the parents in lawâs castleâ – Chillingham Castle. But he travelled the least distance he could, did not endanger his parents or parents-in-law. Managed to recover and returned to work.
He and Frost prove that Boris can pick winners.
May 27, 2020
Boris is not up to it.
Possibly the worst Prime Minister in British history.
May 27, 2020
I think May still has that title. He got off to a good start, securing a Brexit after having been brave enough to fight an election. But he needs to get back of the path of fiscal responsibility, be more Conservative and less Liberal, and sort out the shambles of his No 10 operation. He also needs a re-shuffle to clear out the deadwood that’s been exposed by this crisis.
May 27, 2020
We have committed economic suicide on Boris’s watch.
He is not up to it. He has not recovered from a very bad illness and is father to a new son born of a lady who is very left wing.
He is now a liability and the worst is yet to come.
May 27, 2020
He is clearly the worst PM ever.
He is incompetent, he is not on top of events, he is surrounded by fools and he is dishonest.
Of course we knew all this before a few thousand old people elected him to lead their party.
May 28, 2020
Conservatives are still ahead in the polls.
Not that it matters.
Next election 4 years away.
May 27, 2020
Boris. Something happened to him. He now is like someone pretending to be him, badly, and in reverse.
May 27, 2020
Just so you know Sir John, my wife and I want this Dominic Cummings bashing to stop
May 27, 2020
We shouldnât worry about this stuff. The Cummings government will decide for us.
Thank God we threw off the shackles of the unelected bureaucrats in Brussels so we could literally be run by an unelected bureaucrat of our own.
Meanwhile it is amusing to see the headbangers now try to argue that the Daily Mail, Julia Hartley-Brewer, Peter Bone and Steve Baker are all left wing.
May 27, 2020
Letâs not forget whose money it actually is! Whether taken in tax now or by way of future debt.
Having said that once govt had taken the bizarre action of closing down the country what else could it do but print money to pay for the whole Great Reset exercise?
(âGreenâ Was once a word used to describe naivety…now it is something that is foisted on a naive population).
I donât suppose it even flickered across the leafy suburban consciousness that this lockdown would turn some lives into even more of a nightmare. Work and pay taxes and then be locked down with the anti social âwinnersâ of the welfare state we pay for. Once a nice area devastated by by to let ( another great govt idea).
Why didnât the newly âniceâ Tory Party include a Virus Bill clause alluding to âfairness and respect for neighbours during incarcerationâ?
May 27, 2020
No more I promise…
But listen, listen…they wonât stop here. A bunch of Tory idiots useful to the Left in govt.
However much you appease the Left they wonât stop.
If they get rid of D.C. they will go after Mr Frost….really!!
Can the 40 odd MPs ( one only elected in last election….gratitude??) baying for DCâs removal have ANY sense?
May 27, 2020
I had forgotten about this – Labour MP Stephen Kinnock for travelling hundreds of miles to see his parents during the lockdown. The opponents of the Government says that is of course OK
He had no reason to travel, yet others doing it within the rules get crucified. Our MsM gives the country a seriously bad name. They believe they are our rulers and pick and choose , re-interpret in the name of a story
May 28, 2020
Ian
Indeed, and Starmer has just promoted him, double standards or WOT !
I see many others who have been critical of DC have been removing lots of interesting information and photographs from there mobile communication services and websites of late.
So, So many Hypocrites about.
May 27, 2020
We are in uncharted waters. Most businesses need an accurate forecast of both the economic climate and short term weather to prime them but without this will have to gamble on getting their core beliefs right.
There will be few winners in the short term but hopefully the general public will gain an insight into who in the economy produce the golden eggs and treasure them as was the culture in the USA years ago.
May 27, 2020
Then cheap at the price. John Bull was thinking of emigrating!
May 28, 2020
John Bull lost his farm to BSE, then diversified and lost his investment. Tried to export to the EU but found rules, damn rules. Then he threw the remaining ÂŁ to the Stock market in the 2000s — and since BREXIT delays he topped himself.
May 27, 2020
I will only believe that our government lacks resources when it decides to pull the plug on foreign aid
One can only conclude that we are cash rich to be able to spend so much money every on foreign aid
May 27, 2020
Sir John. A government, none of whom have run businesses, expect people to resume economic activity when they click their fingers. “Shops can reopen”. Queue outside, then shuffle round the in-store one way system, unable to touch or test merchandise before buying. No thanks. Shops may reopen briefly before closing permanently. Retail is handed to the online giants. PS. If Mr Cummings is such an indispensable genius, why is Britain apparently still run by Sedwill, why was Ferguson allowed to impose this lunacy and why is Tugendhat trying to keep our military linked to the EU and not have our own satellite system?
May 27, 2020
We would have more respect for both you and your party if you stood on a platform and declared your new found loyalty to all that’s been created since 1997.
Like Labour, the Tories have become a deceit. London-centric Labour no longer represent white, working people. Indeed they actively despise them and seek to replace them as they seek a new robotic bloc vote.
And the Tories are without question a most repugnant presence as a result of their abhorrent capitulation to the politics of the progressive authoritarian left. Offensive, morally bankrupt and a festering sore on this nation.
It is the detriment of this nation that voters wrongly believe that there’s a choice and that both parties offer opposing programs. This is nonsense and explains why the Tories work hard to protect Labour from harm and protect their sub-State. The Tories are in effect protecting the 2 party consensus with their tedious Punch and Judy arrangement.
The Tories great fear is the rise of a true conservative party to replace Labour. A party that would replicate Thatcher’s program based on morality, de-politicisation, liberty of thought and speech and values that reject the poison of cultural Marxism
May 27, 2020
Well we know for sure that that Party will have no connection to Mr Farage!
May 27, 2020
Hope you’re not writing this stuff in the FT- can guarantee you won’t keep that gig for very long
May 27, 2020
K, Don’t worry, the average reader of Sir John’s investment column in the FT knows how much they can trust the man with his ‘advices’ generally given a few weeks after essential events. But it certainly often fun to read. You should also have a look at the BTL comments after his monthly Sermon on the Mount.
Reply It is based around a Demonstrator fund I run Where the FT of course receive real time dealing reports as changes are made.
May 27, 2020
A couple of days ago we had on this very blog the ineffable Edward2 asking where the mythical neoliberals are/were? Could it be they are/were those who have accepted the death/sale of these companies not only without lifting a finger to help them but even encouraging, at different stages of their career, the whole process.
And it is likely the same one(s) today explaining the details on how to come out of this crisis. What a joke.
May 27, 2020
Still having a little dig hef.
You cant resist it CSN you.
Were you the school bully decades ago?
What a joke indeed.
May 30, 2020
What have David, Stephen, Graham (and Neil?) got to do with it?
May 27, 2020
To get the economy functioning again the State must move away from the centralised direction (with enforcement ) of peoples activities. Further, people must be encouraged to take back control of their lives and take responsibility for their own actions. For his to happen it is imperative that Dominic Cummings be maintained in place â a high profile example of someone who uses intelligence and initiative to take decisions pertaining to his particular circumstances. If he gets thrown to the wolves who will dare interpret rules according to need in the future? Also where will the wolves (media) go looking for their next meal? I see ghosts of 1930âs Germany looming in the intolerance (hatred even) and fear that I see around our world.
May 27, 2020
+1
May 27, 2020
Off Topic – With regard to “State Aid” it certainly seems like Germany is going to fund Lufthansa and France will put money in to its automotive industry.
Of course it’s not new for France to get away with giving state aid to French companies – think Honeywell Bull…
May 27, 2020
Yes and Bull still exists with one BullSequana X supercomputer used somewhere within the Reading suburbs.
Where are the Acorn, Sinclair, Amstrad. Apricot, Dan, RM, Vigen, Akhter, Evesham … of yore. More or less disappeared from the surface of the earth. And the last recent bit of British computer technology (ARM holdings) is now Japanese.
So what is the best way to go, the French or the British way?
May 27, 2020
More importantly where is ICL? Destroyed by Wilson who promised to buy it regardless whether they put in a stroke of work again. They didnât! We British invented the Computer and lost the whole industry to the USA because of state patronage and âsupportâ – socialism – everything it touches turns to ashes!
May 28, 2020
Lynn, the support for the nascent computer industry in the early 1950s USA came from the National Bureau of Standards, MIT, U.Pennsylvania, Princeton and IBM. Do you really think of these places as hotbeds of socialism?
If Turing had started developing his ideas in 1936, Packard and Hewlett were at it in the USA from 1939, the ENIAC was running from 1943 …
ICL was only started in 1968 from previous British efforts (ICT, Marconi) as part of Wilsonâs Industry Expansion Act.
Arenât you a bit revisionist?
May 28, 2020
Although Packard & Hewlett developed electronic testing equipment that early – certainly not computers.
Babbage developed the first machine you could describe as a computer ( mid 19th century).
Bill Tutte and Tommy Flowers (early 1940s) were denied from receiving due recognition as pioneers of the modern computer.
“Bill Tutte was a most astonishingly brilliant man,” “He was a 24-year-old mathematician, and by sheer iron logic he worked out how the [German high command’s Lorenz cipher] system worked.
“When you consider there were three levels of encryption, it was an extraordinary performance,” he says. “It has even been called the outstanding mental feat of the last century.”
Tommy Flowers was a senior GPO electrical engineer.
May 27, 2020
If you are referring to the ECMWF Atos BullSequana then I’m not sure it’s commissioned yet and while by any normal view of the map it’s on the outskirts of Reading, thanks to the vagaries of the Westminster boundaries I believe it falls in the Wokingham constituency.
May 29, 2020
John, you’re right. They still rely on two identical Cray XC40 clusters. The Atos BullSequana is being set up in Bologna, Italy and the switch between the Reading and the Bologna sites is supposed to happen early in 2021. Most of the staff is to stay in Wokingham/Reading.
May 28, 2020
These are just brands. The people and The brains are still out there.
May 28, 2020
Acorn turned into ARM, used in most mobile phones and sold to the Japanese đ
May 27, 2020
It might have been right for the Govt to pay wages of furloughed staff for 2 or 3 weeks as this was indicated to be the quickest response to operationalise. It is wrong to extend this from a few weeks, to at least four months, a timescale over which more equitable options that also allow resources to reallocate could have been implemented. The Govt has picked (vote) winners, those it allowed to continue to work and those it treated vastly preferentially to those already unemployed / economically inactive. If the benefit system is not supportive of the economy readjusting then an improvement or swap to UBI should have been implemented. Sunak’s distorted and judgemental logic is essentially that those people who were doing OK before the lockdown are more valuable (presumably for votes) and worthy than those who were not. The desires of Sunak (to choose the worthy) and Hancock (to retain and hence internationally validate authoritarian power to lockdown and punish individual towns/cities) are definitely wrong. Why decent Conservative MPs would support a PM and Cabinet with these distasteful policies is bewildering to me.
The Govt should unlock immediately, and certainly reduce the distancing to 1 metre. It should publish and publicise the risks vs age and condition to show the majority are not endangered (even if the Home Secretary claims everyone is endangered). It also needs to show the calculations (using several models) of how many (quality) life years have been saved through lockdown compared with how many are expected to have been lost (again using several models).
Despite releasing limited antibody study results, the Govt remains unclear on how immunity and cross-reactive immunity in the community effects the epidemiology. It does not demonstrate an ability to question its advisers. Early in the epidemic the Govt indicated the desire to push the peak back to the Summer, so that it didn’t overlap with winter seasonal illnesses. Bizarrely the Govt now indicates its policies are to stop a second peak in the Summer – there are several possibilities here (i) the Govt knows that community resistance is now quite high and risk for the majority is very low, (ii) there is wishful thinking about a safe, mass vaccination, (iii) there is continued need to justify its authoritarian powers, (iv) incompetence (there is limited community resistance and the vulnerable are hard to protect but push the second peak back to Winter).
Whether focussed on the economy or epidemic the Govt seems to be hanging on hoping for some success to claim. It would be better to get back to some objective reality.
May 27, 2020
Well, just seen that it is now 8.4 million on furlough alone. That is a lot of bought votes to lose, I cannot see who in the Govt has the ability and integrity to get out of this mess. There is no way for the country to regain a developed status through any of the existing parties.
May 27, 2020
The reality is that the Government made a judgement call to prolong the lives of people already being kept alive by life saving drugs by shutting down companies RATHER than than putting ill people in lockdown and letting healthy people get on with keeping the economy running.
The Government made this decision because the civil service are incapable of sitting down for a few days and coming up with short term tactical solutions.
This decision means the Government must put those companies back to a place before the pandemic and the cost must be borne by the civil service.
For example pension payments to civil servants by the Government must be eliminated and paid into a fund to help the private sector. UK income tax must be paid by outsourced workers who fit the IR35 criteria. Foreign work visas must not be renewed so that British people can get those jobs. The salaries of Government workers must be frozen for five years.
May 27, 2020
Absolutely! Not hard to persuade JR of this.
May 27, 2020
Sir John, you appear to be writing with regards only for the larger and multinational companies, who have shareholders and/or collateral to put up as securities for (commercial) bank loans etc.
Now would you be so kind as to suggest how sole traders & SMEs might survive beyond govt grants, backed loans, or SE/Furlough schemes when apparently, under current govt TTT plans, their businesses might get put into a (minimum?) local 14 day local lockdown at any moment – I now many traders who simply would not get any business under such trading conditions, their customers (some of them other businesses) simply can not afford have their property or equipment sat moribund, perhaps half-repaired.
May 27, 2020
A very good point, Jerry.
May 27, 2020
Listening earlier to, and reading about, the govts track and trace procedure, who thinks these systems up? But then again this was obviously rushed out by No.10 to deflect from other matters.
The idea that a health official can simply phone someone up to tell them they need to self isolate is asking for problems, from the simple idiotic practical jokers to a scammers charter – worried, shocked and possibly frightened members of the public, having been told they might have a deadly virus, in the heat of the moment being asked if they can confirm some personal details, full name, address DOB etc. even perhaps bank details …. ID theft by govt decree and diktat…
The great thing about the Apple-Google app was that it was all done within the smart phone, meaning that a scam would require a major hack of the system, not just plucking names and numbers out of a telephone directory!
May 27, 2020
It’s utter lunacy, surely designed not to work and hopefully get us back to normal as soon as possible, as we lampoon its deficiencies mercilessly!!
zorro
May 27, 2020
Totally agree.
Unfortunately I doubt our woke body politic will grasp this particular nettle, and will instead try to be all things to all people.
I really donât think people have grasped the scale of the disaster thatâs coming.
May 27, 2020
I really donât think Boris has grasped the scale of the disaster thatâs coming.
May 28, 2020
to the country or to his career?
Possibly both?
May 27, 2020
Very sensible post. Agree – and particularly: ‘What we do not want is to search for some top down government led model of backing winners, interfering with customer choices and deciding who to subsidise and what changes to lifestyle they require.’
Less government interference is needed in many areas of our lives.
May 27, 2020
The danger is some companies that were short of cash owing to lock down end up insolvent because they do not experience a surge of returning business once the lock down is lifted.
It doesn’t help companies and business in general when it has been announced that on Friday constraint payments of ÂŁ9.3 million was paid out to wind turbine. Reported in the Telegraph
When is the government and politicians, in general get a grip and end this madness? I would have thought the country needs every penny no matter where from and who it upsets to get us on the road, out of the situation we are now in.
May 27, 2020
wind turbine operators.
May 27, 2020
As someone who has or rather had a healthy business, I donât want a handout, I just want to be allowed to open up and start working again. Also, wouldnât this be a good time to start talking about purging the bloated, protected, costly public sector? And I include politicians in that. No doubt if they had to suffer the same as the private sector have – furloughing, loss of income, being laid off etc. weâd all be back by now.
May 28, 2020
Today’s Tories are simply not up for the fight. Clueless and gutless.
May 27, 2020
JLR massive employer and is the flagship in many ways of the brilliance of the British car industry.
If you cannot or will not lend it money then try another way.
Reduce /remove all the high taxes on the vehicles in the showrooms. This will send a clear signal and generate new business. Keeps tens of thousands working and paying taxes.
JLR when they are producing and selling more vehicles, that is the time to claw back the taxes that have been removed or placed on hold. It is a Business as Usual model to help them sell their existing models and invest in new technology.
All this has been bought about not by the virus because two politicians opened their mouths before realising the full implications of what they were saying. Diesel engines are evil and bad for which the country must commit to zero CO2 by 2040.
The infrastructure is not in place and diesels will be around for another 25 years lets use them as their emmissions are very low and keep the skill base in companies such as JLR. The government has got to be realistic in what it is trying to achieve. Under promise and over deliver. Rocket science it is not
May 27, 2020
A very good idea
May 28, 2020
One good way would be for the government to place a large order of vehicles.
May 27, 2020
One of the main beneficiaries of the furlough scheme is the people who are working for government organisations but not “on the front line.
Did you know, Sir John, that in Universities more people are actually employed in administration and fund raising than there are teachers? The number of professional, full time staff is about a third of the number of people on the payroll? The figures of the NHS I suspect are very similar. I am talking off the top of my head without figures but would like to ask about the MOD too.
All these people, I understand, are on full salaries.
May 28, 2020
+1
May 27, 2020
I sincerely hope that the govt will de-criminalise non payment of the BBC Licence due to the BBC’s continual breaches of the Royal Charter and abuse of their dominant position in the broadcasting business.
Also, I think it’s time that the Balen Report was made available to the people who paid for it – the general public!
May 27, 2020
What you are saying is no more than common sense, but of course will be perceived as the opposite by all interventionists who will urge on the Government the vital necessity of backing winners. The Government really must not fall into this trap which is clearly already being laid for it and it would be particularly futile at this juncture and in the circumstances we face, precisely because of the changes in business models that as you highlight, are now taking place around us.
One real benefit of difficult times should be the cathartic destruction of failing businesses and the revival of valuable new ones.
Though painful while it is happening, the only way for the process to be successful is to let the market place decide. To leave choices to the Government or its agents has always been to guarantee failure when it has happened in the past, and there is no reason to suppose that this time would be any different.
May 27, 2020
Indeed the sooner we get back to work and companies adjust to the new condition the better. Many people will need to get new and different jobs again, the sooner the better.
It will all be very much assisted by easy hire and fire, a bonfire of red tape, cheap on demand energy, a massive slimming down of the bloated (largely inept and unproductive) state sector (and the universities sector) and the cancellation of many other government lunacies HS2 or gender gap pay reporting.
May 27, 2020
I see yet again Nigel has found illegals being escorted by the French into our waters. Wasn’t it Priti who said she was going to stop it? But conveniently didn’t say by what date or century. Traitors to the country and its people – who also happen to be the voters.
May 28, 2020
@bigneil(newercomp)
Clearly they are not asylum seekers, because France despite all the things we hear is really not that bad. The food isn’t to everyone’s liking and their cars are a bit weird, but that’s not sufficient reason to flee across the Channel in small boats.
These people have heard that the UK is a soft touch for anyone wishing to avail of it’s welfare system. Send them straight back from whence they came.
May 27, 2020
Yes, in order to revive the economy private capital will need to be injected into viable businesses. We must make sure this is not discouraged by excessive regulations or taxation.
May 27, 2020
“Travel and hospitality will have to change the way they work for as long as social distancing remains…”
Let us hope ‘social distancing’ ends as soon as possible. I’m preaching to the converted when I say an olde worlde English pub now lacks British spirit. This spirit cannot be killed, is in your cellar, in your walls, is impatient
May 27, 2020
Sir John, the key thing is to fight hard against the absurd social distancing rules. As you rightly note, the travel and hospitality industries can not function fully with these rules in place. Every pub and restaurant in the land will have to operate with the same rents and overheads (albeit with less staff) but with a fraction of the turnover and all because of an inhuman and degrading government decree. Those sectors, so vital to civilized society and human enjoyment, have the right to taxpayer subsidy until the rules are lifted. As the cost mounts, perhaps that will provide motivation to remove the tyrannical laws and allow a free society again.
May 27, 2020
The venues I use most certainly can cope with a 2-metre SD limit. But given that, I have to ask why they aren’t allowed to open now?
May 27, 2020
David Jamieson Police and Crime Commissioner for West Midlands and Labour Party Member trying to pretend on the BBC World at One that the Police are struggling to explain the difference between travelling for critical childcare and kids driving to play football.
Are the police really this stupid?
May 27, 2020
I live in a not quite benefit street area … Lower lower lower lower working / middle class. It is bordering on impossible for people to work from home due to incessant cranked up sound systems (that comes from double glazing), screaming near-feral kids, chemical and wood barbecue smoke. It is quite exasperating to know that the authoritarian Govt has the police wasting time on its misdirected rules whilst it hasn’t even considered the environment needed for people to work from home … Haaa noise complaints are a council responsibility. Noise is now something that the authoritarian PM needs to shift to a criminal issue acted on by police immediately with zero tolerance. Home as workplace needs this.
May 27, 2020
“Home as workplace needs this.” A good reason no-one should work at home. Not all but many find they never actually ‘leave’ work.
It can be stressful especially for the hardest workers. They have the ability to work overtime and no-one to tell them to get out of the office such as the cleaner.
Stress death awaits the unwary. Kids do not like being ignored especially when they can see clearly nothing of value or interest their parents are doing . Think like a child!!!Live!
May 28, 2020
Away to work!
A completely reasonable view
May 27, 2020
O/T John, most right minded people know that the hounding of Cummings is a smokescreen to stop Brexit.
Why aren’t the press camping outside Stephen Kinnocks house or the liebour mp who attended a funeral with 200 others, oh wait, he’s a Muslim so not subject to the same rules.
I really hope Boris sticks to his guns because we don’t want rule by tabloid.
May 27, 2020
So Barnier has written to the leaders of the opposition parties saying the EU is willing to extend the transition period by 2 more years as long as we continue to follow EU rules and agree our financial contribution. Is the man mad or just plain stupid.
May 27, 2020
He thinks the leaders of the opposition parties are Mad and or plain stupid. He may be right! Starmer however is in shock. I think he has and inkling of the cost of this CV19 fiasco. He knows we canât afford the EU any more, or the Commonwealth, UN and others assorted beggars.
May 28, 2020
No. This is a Remainer plot. And it is our lot that are the stupid ones. That is why they like EU governance.
May 28, 2020
@Ian Wragg
Why is he writing to the opposition?
Shouldn’t he be dealing directly with the British govt?
May 28, 2020
In desparation he hopes Boris will be gone soon, and he will run rings round the rag, tag and bobtail opposition.
May 27, 2020
Yes and interesting to see Germany are intent on giving “state aid” to Lufthansa, against their own EU rules; handily EU have suspended that particular law, hypocritical I call it.
Now we have the slippery Barnier writing to Remainiac Opposition MPs (D Mail) about being happy to offer a 2 year Brexit delay…. damned disrepectful to HMG I would call it.
Still we live in countries where freedom of speech is still “sorta like” allowed, so Monsieur Barnier I will say this to you – time you moved on and your replacement given a mandate to make a proper FTA, not hellbent on a servile/colonial agreement. Democratically speaking of course đ
May 27, 2020
One of the biggest threats to our recovery has to be the insane drive towards zero carbon, particularly now there is mounting evidence a climate COOLING phase may have started.
Why on earth has the COP26 climate conference been reinstated, albeit for 2021?
May 27, 2020
If anyone was un-sure of the motive behind the attacks on Mr. Cummins, just take note of the recent letter from a group of SNP, Lib Dem, Plaid Cymru, SDLP, Green, and Alliance Members of Parliament to Michel Barnier. Requesting his help in extending the UK’s membership of the EU.
May 27, 2020
This Mr Dominic Cummins must be a wizard or something to stir the whole kingdom up. Please ignore this rubbish and stick to the real issues here. We have just been on lockdown based on a 14 year old girls middle school thesis, opposed by the entire Medical Establishment at the time (2006).
This should be headline news on the BBC if we had a real media not just a bunch of children.
May 27, 2020
John of piste I know and delete after reading but would it not be a good time to up the premium bond allowance to say 50k. people could then have money with a chance of earning something rather than the ,1% interest rates on offer and it might be a good way for the government to raise a few quid almost war bonds.
May 27, 2020
0.1% in many cases. But many banks are still charging 40% on overdrafts!
May 27, 2020
PBs are more expensive, for the government, than issuing gilts.
May 27, 2020
It is ÂŁ50k already.
May 27, 2020
BBC “Schools and workplaces may face local lockdowns”
The Chief Medical Officer rubbished the idea, with also a dismissive smirk ( the smirk as seen in my eyes opinion) on TV, weeks or even months ago of “Regional assessment and ethnic analysis” in determining action to beat the coronovirus.
The Government insisted it is “following scientific advice” Then b.well do so! You the Government made your own deathly bed so continue to lie…..in it!
May 27, 2020
Somewhat O/T: Starting with the 2011/12 tax year, the state pension was set to increase every year by the greatest of the average earnings growth, consumer prices index inflation or 2.5%. People of working age (of which I am no more) should now be prioritised as they are likely to carry the bulk of the efforts at sorting out the economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis. These people may/might have lost/lose their jobs. As we are likely to enter a world of low growth, reduced demand for many services, and higher taxes, these people may have to face reinventing themselves and creating a new life for their family. Keeping only the first two conditions for a state pension increase (the bigger of average earnings growth and consumer prices index inflation) would send a signal that ‘we are all in this together’.
In addition ending the current pension tax relief tax structure and setting a unique rate (20% or less) tax relief on (private) pension contributions would show a similar will. If present higher (40% tax relief) and additional (45% tax relief) rate earners were to find themselves with extra funds, why could they not invest in shares, funds, investment trusts and ETFs without further tax benefits. Provided they invest in UK-related assets, that would show true ‘patriotism’.
May 27, 2020
Did you proof read that hef?
Seems a bit odd.
May 28, 2020
As far as I can see, there are no spelling mistakes. You might not like the content and you are obviously free to disagree. But given the impact of the present crisis on working people, the idea of cutting the potential 2.5% growth in state pension or of cutting the higher rate tax relief on pension contribution does not sound so OTT. A quick calculation taking account the recent CPI/real average earning growth would save about ÂŁ8-9bn on state pensions, limiting the HR tax relief another ÂŁ20bn (based on 2017-18 HMRC and OBR figures).
May 28, 2020
It would have a big impact on those poor pensioners living off the State pension.
I’m surprised you want to hit one of the poorest grouos in society.
What’s your next big idea?
A tax on food banks.
Reductions in Universal Credit benefits?
Reductions in child benefits?
Reduction in the minimum wage?
I had you down as liberal lefty.
How wrong I have been.
May 29, 2020
Well, I doubt that these poor pensioners pay 40 or 45% income tax.
May 29, 2020
Year. â CPI. â Aver.Earn.â Increase
2012. â 5.2. â 2.7. …… CPI.
2013. â 2.2. â 1.5. …… 2.5
2014. â2.7. â 1.2. …… CPI.
2015. â 1.2. â 0.6. …… 2.5
2016 â -0.1 â 2.9. …… AvEarn
2017. â 1.0. â 2.4. ……. 2.5
2018. â 3.0 â 2.3. ……. CPI
2019. â 2.4. â 2.6. …… AvEarn
2020. â 1.7. â 3.9. …… AvEarn
(UK Govât)
So in the nine years, the triple lock has been active, it is only in 2015 that it made a real difference. In both 2013 and 2014, the differences with the 2.5% were respectively 0.3 and 0.1% corresponding to 53p and 18p per week (based on the present ÂŁ175.20/week). In 2015, the difference was more sizeable but still only ÂŁ2.28/week.
So … did you know these types of order of magnitude as well as the content of the âReflections on the Revolution in Franceâ?
May 29, 2020
In both 2013 and 2017
May 27, 2020
Off topic.
This Cummings fuss is the ardent anti- Brexiteers trying another ruse to delay or de-rail our leaving Europe. If they remove Cummings they will put direct pressure on the PM who, without that advisor, might be persuaded to yield a little bit and request a short extension.
That would create far greater damage to the government and in effect you would be allowing the media to influence or worse dictate who works in No 10
Cummings must stay regardless of pressure. Most of what the media are shouting about is a badly edited story that they have largely concocted.
May 27, 2020
The Cummings fuss is just a distraction to stop us asking the big question about this lockdown and social distancing madness.
May 27, 2020
That could have been a rare government intelligent strategy but likely as not it was just an accident
May 27, 2020
You left the EU in January. Farage had a party for a few hundred old people and Mark Francois failed to ring Big Ben. And remember – that was the Brexit high point.
May 27, 2020
off topic.
Barnier getting anxious?
Dear Honourable and Right Honourable Members of Parliament,
Thank you for your letter of 15 May 2020. I remain keen on and interested in hearing the views of British political parties and stakeholders in order to appreciate all dimensions of the national debate.
The European Union remains determined to build a new and ambitious partnership with the United Kingdom in the short time that is available, given your governmentâs repeated statements that it will not agree to an extension of the transition period.
I take note of your views on a possible extension of the transition period. Such an extension of up to one or two years can be agreed jointly by the two parties. The European Union has always said that we remain open on this matter. Any extension decision has to be taken by the Joint Committee before 1 July, and must be accompanied by an agreement on a financial contribution by the United Kingdom.
Regardless of the extension issue, please rest assured that the EU side will continue to do its utmost to reach an ambitious and balanced partnership agreement with the United Kingdom, along the lines agreed with the Government of the United Kingdom in the Political Declaration in October 2019.
My team and I remain at your disposal for any further exchanges.
Yours sincerely,
Michel Barnier
May 27, 2020
No. He is not get desperate.
He was responding to a letter they wrote to him.
He was being polite. Brexiteers should try it. Youâd get a better deal.
May 28, 2020
Andy as far as I can see our negotiating team have been nothing but polite.
May 27, 2020
go forth and….
May 27, 2020
I think the science on the virus DNA needs to be followed.
I have written software for a charity to simulate DNA for clinical trials with the help of senior clinicians and geneticists, so have a very good grasp of this subject.
1. Back in March two Indian geneticists found 4 sequences (of 10-20 base pairs) of DNA in the virus closely matched the HIV virus. Two sequences were identical to HIV and 2 sequences were slightly different. The two Indian geneticists were forced to withdraw their paper.
2. Last week an Australian geneticist said that covid was highly optimised for human transmission and poorly optimised for animal transmission. The exact opposite that you would expect. This strongly implies that this virus âevolvedâ in human cells and not animal
cells.
3. Yesterday another Australian paper was submitted that said that the covid virus used the same strategy to block the immune system as AIDS. What this means is that one of those HIV sequences in the virus floats around in cells then attaches to human DNA and triggers the production of human proteins to block human immune cells. This is very important because it is a second sequence that is human-centric. Animals donât get AIDs.
This last point means covid is an airborne human AIDS like virus that mutates slowly enough that humans can build immunity. A key difference is the AIDS virus has a constantly mutating spike protein (some researchers say HIV is actually a changing species) whereas covid mutates so slowly that humans can build an immunity.
Given the virus has a human optimised spike protein and is also optimised to trigger the production of human proteins to block human immune cells it looks almost certain that this virus has been made by scientists and was optimised in human cells and a vanishingly small chance that this virus evolved in animals.
May 27, 2020
I think this implies the Chinese were developing an airborne HIV virus as a weapon that leaked. Statically the odds of having not one but TWO very specific key human optimised DNA sequences (one for transmission and one for immune resistance), and not animal optimised, in a novel virus is just too great a probability. Millions to one against.
May 29, 2020
When and where have these papers on the various pieces of research you talk about, been published? Thanks in advance.
May 27, 2020
The business subsidy is grossly unequal: state and corporate employees continue to be subsidised, but from June the self-employed – sole traders or freelance entrepreneurs will lose all support. I know of very many who will be losing their entire living and stand to lapse into abject poverty because the government cannot get people back to work.
Some self-employed get no government grant at all – even though their income has plummeted by nearly 50% as a result of covid. When forced to default on their rent, the landlord is then shorn of income.
This may well all be unavoidable: perhaps the entire self-employed sector will vanish for ever. But what is very provoking is the furloughed sector’s constant refusal to alter a thing. Teachers who refuse to teach (so preventing parents from being able to go back to work); local authorities providing 10% of their services but insisting on being paid 100% of council tax; Sir Humphrey making no savings at all. This is not an even load.
While many state /LA /corporate employees are sunbathing and playing beachball all day at home, the SME sector is in danger of being permanently strangled. The Treasury (and politicians) are making decisions to whose effects they are immune. Is that wise?
It certainly makes the Tory MP squabbling so clearly aimed at weakening the PM and re-fighting the remainer wars of last autumn look frivolous and grossly out-of-touch. Please tell your colleagues to put a sock in it: we can see who they are, and what they’re doing. They are just persuading anyone at all – merely fostering horrified resentment. It is quite enough that the media are constantly inviting all the remainers (e.g. just now on R4 PM programme ex-MP Sarah Wolleston) to bang on and on about Mr Cummings, without Tory MPs cheerfully throwing the government’s majority away.
May 27, 2020
Typo – ‘They are just not persuading anyone at all’ etc
May 27, 2020
Companies who are perfectly capable of paying dividends have stopped them too – it is a political decision – used to pay bumper bonuses for the board no doubt. When Ed Milliband asked a FTSE 100 CEO âWhy do you have to pay dividends ?â it wasnât such a stupid question after all was it. In due course shareholders (the owners) will have their say.
May 27, 2020
Alas the shareholder rarely get enough say in things.
May 28, 2020
Joe Public is forced by the tax system to hold his shares through nominees, which means that he doesn’t get a vote at the AGMs, the fat cat fund managers get to vote for him instead and when it comes to voting on remuneration packages for their fellow fat cat golfing chums guess how they vote?
May 27, 2020
The French Navy are still escorting illegal migrant boats into British waters. Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage catches them trying to cover it up
May 27, 2020
Indeed. Well done Farage yet again.
May 27, 2020
I am not sure how Barnier’s offer of a two year extension toBrexit would help the UK but I would be glad of any input.
May 27, 2020
For God’s sake hasn’t the Brexit saga gone on for long enough?
May 28, 2020
Yes ,but we have been manipulated , how can we use that to help us out of the financial mess we are experiencing? We are looking at a different playing field now ( with no players)
May 27, 2020
Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has had bad news regarding extradition today in a Canadian Hearing.
She has been under house arrest since December. It must be awful under house arrest, one can’t imagine
May 27, 2020
With all the toing and froing over Cummings there is a simple solution.
All the PM has to do is:
Tell the 40 odd back benchers who are looking for their 15 minutes of fame, that Cummings will resign, but he expects all 40 of them to resign and leave it to the electorate to make their decision. With an 80 seat majority I’am sure that the PM could survive with 40 should the worse happen.
May 27, 2020
The daftest thing was the way the Labour ones and the media thought the matter should be referred down to the Cabinet Secretary. You would think everyone was agreed he had more than enough power already, but apparently not. He must hold control the PM’s advisers as well.
May 28, 2020
So ….. according to the Telegraph .. Durham Police say “Investigation concludes Boris Johnson’s most senior aide did commit a ‘minor breach’ of the lockdown rules when he drove to Barnard Castle”
Maybe Mr Cummings should express his disagreement/disappointment with this view but, in the spirit of compromise, make a ÂŁ10k donation to NHS charities…. so that we can all move on.
At least Mr Cummings has flushed out a number of disloyal Tory MPs. maybe that has been his plan all along ?
May 27, 2020
“The government does not have the resources to keep all companies going that lack a strong business offer for the new conditions post shutdown” = redundancies.
May 27, 2020
he only way to sustain our living standards is to get everyone back to work.
>
Thanks for trying with the common-sense approach, but it never worked with TM.
May 27, 2020
Coronavirus test and trace, if the government want to lock people up for a fortnight because they may have had the misfortune to work or come near to someone who has covid19 for 15 minutes then you should pay them two weeks furlough not two weeks ssp! Change this or it wonât happen.
You will close an entire business will you? Will you close an entire hospital or care home and just send all the workers home immediately if one of them is tested with covid19 – you canât do that, test immediately and if you are positive then isolate for 14 days but this is just silly.
I actually admired Cummings for not just ditching his job when colleagues were diagnosed with covid19 the night before, I thought he was being responsible closing the office down, allocating work, putting his job before his families welfare whilst he had no symptoms and was the last man standing. All the other MPs just cleared off all over the Country the day before sod the rest of us carrying this virus on public transport and back to their family homes, and now these very people bay for blood itâs truly pathetic.
Are you honestly saying a positive test for a care home boss and everyone working with them has to down tools immediately and leave the residents to their own devices all on SSP. Donât be stupid. Say a security guard gets it at number 10 do you all have to close down? What if you work with ten people you are all 2m apart but you use the same toilet đœ washing hands after each use etc. Does everyone still go home for 14 days? You public servants on full sick pay havenât got a blimin clue. Get a grip of them John please.
May 27, 2020
Why can you fly halfway around the World but you can’t self isolate with your Family in an empty property on your Fathers farm, what am I missing.This plague did not come in through Weymouth on a rat infested ship it came by international air travel that is still on going on a daily bases?.
May 27, 2020
Finally the BBC have had no option other than to reprimand Newsnight and its presenter, Maitlis personally, for the biased way she hosted the programme on Tuesday evening, including an opening rant which she personally wrote and in which she was grossly partial, making no effort to be even-handed.
The subject was, of course, still the Dominic Cummings non-story which the Corporation seems unable to move on from.
May 28, 2020
I sincerely hope that the govt will de-criminalise non payment of the BBC Licence due to the BBCâs continual breaches of the Royal Charter and abuse of their dominant position in the broadcasting business.
Also, I think itâs time that the Balen Report was made available to the people who paid for it â the general public!
May 28, 2020
Business and science.Whose science is put forward? It is offensive to calculate risk with R numbers. If it was your child wife ,husband mother etc included as a number , how would you feel? Every individual is important.
I read a paper which stated a scientist tested for Covid and there wasn’t any response whatsoever, however after 90 days it was self limiting, so distancing does help the spread and hopefully if there are fewer people with infections the self limiting process will take effect. Other virus are also similar as is some wart virus’s, however this does not mean immunity is in place.