Caution should not delay a rapid recovery

At last the economy is reopening. But a wave of social-distancing bureaucracy threatens to kill off hopes of a V-shaped recovery

Should you stay one metre away from the next guy at the bar, or add on six inches just to be on the safe side? Should each restaurant table be a separated by a couple of metres or would it be OK if that just applied to the diners?

Singing in a concert hall is still out of the question, apparently, but what about mime. Or long guitar solos?

It is, of course, welcome that the Prime Minister has decisively moved to ease lockdown and allow the economy to start to reopen.

There is still one huge risk we face, however. We do too little, too late.

The economy could not survive much longer.

Even with massive government support, businesses can’t be put into deep freeze for ever and emerge as

fresh as the day you stored them. Skills rust, customers forget you and goodwill evaporates.

Another month and there wouldn’t be an economy to come back to.

With daily deaths into the teens, and infections below a thousand a day, we face a medical challenge but hardly an emergency.

There was no longer any justification for killing off tens of thousands of businesses and millions of jobs. And yet as “rules” turn into government “guidelines” there is a risk that companies, egged on by the insurance industry and the unions, will gold-plate them, and move too slowly, and too cautiously.

In truth, the only real guideline we need right now is common sense.

Between them, companies and their customers should be trusted to make their own decisions about what is safe and what isn’t – and that is the only thing that will ensure the rapid, V-shaped recovery the country needs.

‘There is a risk that companies, egged on by the insurance industry and the unions, will move too slowly’