£330BN WAR CHEST TO KEEP BRITAIN IN BUSINESS
UK DEATH TOLL HITS 71 DON’T GO OVERSEAS NON-URGENT OPS DELAYED
RISHI Sunak has offered a £330billion bailout for businesses as Britain resorts to wartime measures to fight coronavirus.
With the number of UK deaths surging to 71 yesterday, the Chancellor set out
an unprecedented package of emergency loans for struggling firms. He also scrapped business rates for a year and promised cash grants to shops, pubs and other high-street outlets hit by the slump in customers following Government advice to stay at home.
Planning regulations are to be ripped up to allow pubs and restaurants to sell takeaway food.
There will also be three-month mortgage holidays for homeowners in need as well as help for workers threatened with redundancy.
Vowing to do “whatever it takes” to protect the economy, Mr Sunak said: “We have never, in peacetime, faced an economic fight like this.”
He unveiled a barrage of financial support equivalent to 15 per cent of the UK’s GDP.
At the same press conference in Downing Street, Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted the crisis demanded steps that are “unprecedented since World War Two”.
He also indicated more sweeping measures will be announced in the coming days. He said: “We must act like any wartime government and do whatever it takes to support our economy.
Deadly
“I stress that although the measures announced are already extreme, we may well have to go further and faster in the coming days to protect lives and the NHS.
“This enemy can be deadly, but it is also beatable.”
Whitehall sources indicated the Government was considering shutting schools soon.
It is also preparing support for disadvantaged families whose children qualify for free school meals.
One insider said: “We have never shied away from the fact there may come a point where we have to close schools.”
Mr Sunak’s support package for business came less than a week after his big-spending emergency Budget. Saying that the country was facing public health and economic emergencies, he admitted: “This struggle will not be overcome by a single package of measures, or isolated interventions.
“It will be won through a collective national effort: every one of us, doing all we can to protect families, neighbours, friends, jobs.”
He also said the scale of the state’s intervention would have been “unimaginable” just a few weeks ago. “This is not a time for ideology and orthodoxy. This is a time to be bold. A time for courage. I want to reassure every British citizen this Government will give you all the tools you need to get through this. The measures include: Keeping large firms afloat with loans via a major Bank of England scheme; Hiking the amount businesses can borrow from £1.2million to £5million, through a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme;
£20billion of business rates support and grant funding to help the most affected firms manage their cash flow;
A 100 per cent business-rate holiday for all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England over the next 12 months;
Increasing grants to businesses eligible for Small Business Rate Relief from £3,000 to £10,000;
Providing £25,000 grants to smaller retail, hospitality and leisure firms with a rateable value of £15,000 to £51,000; and An agreement with banks and building societies that they will support customers in financial difficulties as a result of the crisis, with mortgage-payment holidays of up to three months.
Mr Sunak indicated he will assume emergency powers to allow him to take urgent financial measures in the coming weeks without the need for a parliamentary vote.
Secure
He said: “Let no one doubt our resolve. When I said in the Budget that we will do everything we can to keep this country, and our people, healthy and financially secure, I meant it.
“The measures I have announced today are only the first steps – I will set out the next stage of our
PRIME MINISTER’S KEY QUOTES... ‘We have never in peacetime faced an economic fight like this one’
‘I stress that although the measures are extreme we may have to go further’ ‘This enemy can be deadly but it is also beatable’
...AND THE CHANCELLOR’S
‘Let no one doubt our resolve... we will get through this. We will do whatever it takes’
‘This is not a time for ideology and orthodoxy ...this is a time to be bold’
‘This struggle will not be overcome by a single package of measures’
response in the coming days. We have never faced an economic fight like this one. But we are well prepared. We will get through this. And we will do whatever it takes.”
Business leaders backed his measures. Dr Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “They could be a lifeline for many businesses across the UK who are experiencing wholesale disruption as a result of the pandemic.”
Jonathan Geldart, director general of the Institute of Directors, said: “The Chancellor’s promise to do whatever it takes is the message business leaders needed to hear.
“It’s now vital to make sure businesses are able to take up the pledges that have been made before too much damage is done.”
Meanwhile workers threatened with redundancy have also been offered help.
If you are an employee and earn at least £118 a week, you will be able to get £94.25 per week Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for up to 28 weeks. Usually, you must be off for at least four days in a row but SSP will be paid from the first day you are off sick if it is related to coronavirus.
If you are not eligible for SSP, you might be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if you’re ill, or elements of Universal Credit if you need help with costs like children or housing. If you’re on a zerohours contract, you can still get sick pay and you should speak to your employer about it. Workers are advised to follow their employer’s rules around reporting their sickness in a timely manner.
People who are advised to selfisolate no longer have to go to the Jobcentre Plus to claim Universal Credit. Sick notes can be obtained via the NHS 111 website.
Last week the Chancellor said he is temporarily removing the minimum income floor in Universal Credit. The Government will meet the cost for businesses with fewer than 250 employees of providing SSP for 14 days, costing £2billion for up to two million businesses.