Sunak to reveal new aid package

Rishi Sunak will today unveil another multi-billionpound recovery package in a bid to steer Britain’s ailing economy back from coronavirus collapse.

With the UK on the brink of its worst recession in three centuries, the chancellor is expected to announce a series of fresh measures to boost infrastructure, investment, consumer spending and jobs.

Mr Sunak’s spending plans are expected to include a temporary VAT cut for pubs, restaurants and cafés, a £3 billion green investment fund and a £1.87bn bailout for the arts sector to save theatres.

Front and centre of today’s mini-Budget will also be a “three point plan for jobs”, with a £2bn government-subsidised jobs scheme for unemployed young people set to be announced.

Under the “kickstart scheme”, employers will be able to offer a six-month work placement for young people aged between 16-24 who are claiming universal credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.

The UK Government will fund each “kickstarter” job covering 100% of the national minimum wage for 25 hours a week – and employers will be able to top up this wage.

The chancellor is also expected to announce a

£111 million investment to triple the scale of traineeships next year.

It will be years before the true extent of the economic damage wrought as a result of the coronavirus pandemic is accurately quantified. However, it is already crystal clear that the downturn is of a magnitude that will merit much more than a footnote in the history books.

Locally, Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce have reported an eye-watering drop in output during the crisis, while there are fears of a £300 million hit to tourism spend in Fife alone.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will take to his feet to deliver a summer statement today and set out the UK Government’s latest thinking on the economy and how it can recover.

Hundreds of billions of pounds of funding have already been committed to fend off the worst impacts of Covid-19, but the Treasury chequebook will be brought out again.

Mr Sunak will be hoping that by finding and distributing more money in a targeted manner to promote growth and to persuade savers to start spend, the wheels of the economy will start to turn again, albeit more slowly.

The Chancellor knows nothing less than a colossal intervention – such as that outlined by the German government in recent days – will really cut the mustard, but he also must ensure the country can afford to pay back its borrowings in a sensible timescale.

He is walking an economic tightrope at a time when the country has been shaken to its core. He must not fall off.