Virus drives debt to record high
The coronavirus crisis saw Government borrowing jump to £8.8bn last month as the country's debt soared to another record high, according to official figures.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it was the first January deficit in a decade and highest borrowing figure for the month since 1993.
Public sector net debt has risen by £316.4bn over the 10 months since last April to £2,114bn at the end of January.
TheONSsaidthattheGovernmentsecuredtaxreceipts of£63.2bnnforthemonth–an a£800mdeclinefollowingthe business rates break and VAT reductions.
The Office for Budget Responsibilitysaiditexpectsthe publicsectormightborrowas much as £393.5bn by the end of the financial year in March – the highest in any year since the Second World War.
The Budget that is to be presented by the Chancellor next week is an important one – it comes a week after the Prime Minister has presented his “roadmap” out of covid restrictions, and as different financial measures come to an end, it is a key time for businesses to plan for the future.
The Prime Minister is right about easing lockdown gradually – he has made this mistake before, easing restrictions too early and too fast, causing rates to rise again.
We can’t allow this to be repeated, and therefore the Government
has taken the right approach by reviewing every four weeks, and then providing a week’s notice to that if the situation is to change.
I know that everyone is wanting to go back to normal, and whilst the prospect of the easing of restrictions is enticing, and gives us hope of the future, it is important that we continue to do the best we can to continue to socially distance, to wear our masks and limit our interaction in person with others to stop the spread of the virus.
We must also remember to thank our NHS workers for all that they have done over the past year in dealing with the pandemic on top of their already heavy workload.
They have taken care of us and our loved ones, and they are doing an incredible job rolling out the vaccine to those on the priority list. A pay rise for our NHS workers should absolutely be in the budget next week.
It is positive that we have seen a remarkable level of take up of the vaccine in Sunderland. I would encourage you to go out and get a vaccine when offered one. It offers good protection against the virus, and it is safe.
The gradual easing of restrictions, and the rollout of the vaccine, gives us hope for the future, but there are still issues today that need to be sorted.
Businesses are still struggling or shut, and people are losing money every day because they are not able to work.
We need the Chancellor to do more to support businesses and the Government to commit to expanding the £500 self-isolation payment to all workers, to ensure that no-one has to is forced to go to work when it is unsafe because they can’t afford to stay at home and isolate.
It is for the good of public health and our economy.
“Your NHS needs you” is the urgent appeal of health chiefs, calling on all who have recovered after positive COVID-19 tests – particularly men – to donate toward crucial COVID treatments. The NHS is collecting blood
plasma for use in medical research to find COVID-19 treatments. Plasma’s vital neutralising antibodies could be used to treat patients who are struggling to develop
their own immune response.
NHS CHIEFS’ clarion call to arms is sharp as a needle … “We want as many people as possible to donate plasma”.
Dr Gail Miflin, Chief Medical Officer for NHS Blood and Transplant, said:
“Convalescent plasma is a precious resource and the whole world is now focusing on early treatment, before organ damage and hospitalisation.
Plasma could particularly help the most vulnerable people, such as the elderly or those with weakened immune systems who do not respond well to vaccines. This includes more than a million people with blood cancers, organ transplants, chronic diseases and more.
To be ready for the future, the time to collect is now.”
WHAT IS PLASMA?
A yellowish liquid that makes up about half our blood volume, plasma contains antibodies that help fight infection after a virus. Donated plasma is now being stored for further planned clinical studies.
WHO CAN DONATE?
NHS Blood and Transplant are asking anybody that has had a positive COVID-19 test result to donate plasma. We would particularly like to hear from men as we know they are most likely to have high levels of antibodies in their blood plasma.
HOW TO DONATE
Search “donate plasma” or visit nhsbt.nhs.uk to complete an online form. You will be contacted – the timing will depend on your recovery date and if you are in a group shown to have higher antibody levels – before being asked to give an initial blood sample.
If antibody levels are high enough, you will be invited back to donate plasma at a donation centre near you.
The procedure takes an average of 45 minutes and the whole visit should last about 1 hour 15 minutes.
HOW SAFE IS IT?
Plasma donation is safe and easy. Plasma is separated out, and the blood returned to you.
Your body replaces plasma and antibodies within 24-48 hours and you can donate as often as every fortnight.
Apetition has been raised to persuade the Government to make June 21 a one-off bank holiday Monday. There is some irony if those so eagerly signing the petition are also the people least in need of another day off. We shouldn’t presume, but who except the furloughed has time to campaign for such a preposterous idea?
Where to start? With the obvious. The date of June 21 is when everything can, might, possibly, provisionally, Deo volente, perhaps, may reopen. It isn’t a promise.
Then we can consider that the people most in need of a day off on that date – won’t get one. Even if there is a bank holiday. Meanwhile, those who are unequivocally looking forward to a return to work would have to defer the pleasure for yet another day.
Also omitted from the
“thinking” is that bank holidays, however much we enjoy them, mean paying people for nothing. Employers struggling just to stay in business are unlikely to warm to the idea of an extra one.
National holidays are in place to accommodate celebrations. When considering this, the petition moves from merely silly to crass; unless the grim health and economic statistics of the last year or so somehow justify a national knees-up.
There is a link you can click on to sign the petition ... which we’re not going to give you. If a petition attracts 100,000 signatures, which might be the case by the time you read this, then it will be considered for debate in Parliament.
Happily, in this instance, that doesn’t mean the debate has to last more than four seconds before the proposal is turned down like a bedspread.
Still, we should point out that there’s been quite a bit of national media mischief on this one so spare a thought for the gentleman who started the petition. He actually did so last October and coincidentally picked June 21 because it’s midsummer – nothing to do with Covid.
That doesn’t mean the suggestion shouldn’t be throttled, at least for 2021. It might not be such a bad idea in other years.
Those who think we should all start to party come the great day, if indeed it does come, should also remember the following.
“Party” is not a verb and only vulgarians think otherwise.