Slash red tape, Boris

WHILE it’s outrageous that pubs, cinemas and hairdressers are reopening two months before schools, easing lockdown should pump adrenaline into an economy gasping on life support.

This jolt is urgently required if the International Monetary Fund’s portent of doom is on the mark. It predicts UK income will plunge by 10.2 per cent this year – a crash unequalled in modern times.

The pain of this deep recession will be immense, with borrowing and debt spiralling, businesses ruined and dole queues snaking around the block.

So as the drumbeat of Covid infections and deaths dwindles, the Prime Minister is right to unshackle the economy, especially profitable hospitality and tourism.

However, there are grave threats to a nascent recovery. First, many people are scared to venture past their front door. And who can blame them?

For three months, the public has been warned that going out risks lives.

But now, they must let go of the comfort blanket. Only by working and spending can they help revive the country.

The second danger? Pettifogging social-distancing bureaucracy. For pubs alone, there are 43 pages of red tape. Customers must leave their names at the door. There’ll be Perspex dividers between tables. Masks must be worn in hotel corridors.

It will simply be impossible to police. Some businesses, egged on by insurers or fearing ambulance-chasing lawyers, will be too cautious – or not open at all.

Meanwhile, customers may decide such a joyless experience is not worth the hassle, and keep their money in their pockets.

Of course, no one wants a second wave of infections. But rather than forcing firms to jump through health-and- safety hoops, shouldn’t Boris trust people to use their common sense? That, surely, is a better way to breathe life into the flatlining economy.