Sunak must borrow and print money to keep us all afloat

What the Chancellor is proposing now is killing off and will cripple many businesses, writes Jim Duffy

Ground Control to Major Tom. These are the immortal lines from the David Bowie hit Space Oddity where Major Tom flips out and it all seems and bit odd and random.

Major Tom, having blasted into space, gets lost in his own wee world. At the time when the hit song came out, it was rumoured that B owie was using drugs. The whole Major Tom trip was laid out as a metaphor for a drug overdose or at the ver y least some time spaced out on a downer – without hope.

Regardless, this trip as Major Tom has made me think this whole pandemic we are living in right now is like an LSD -fuelled spectacular where nothing is as it seems or should be, where some are “strung out on heavens high”, while others are hitting “all-time lows”.

The erratic execution and communication of lockdowns and circuit-breakers is leaving many of us confused and anxious.

Should we “give a heck” or not? Is ever yone playing the game and in this together?

As can be expected from human behaviour, many are working hard to stay within the “rules” as others jog on in a cavalier fashion, unconcerned with regulation and governmental controls.

B ecause we locked down in the spring, we expected the scientists and politicians to have things under control by now.

But just look. It’s as bad as ever and the next six months look grim.

It is no wonder Prince William is worried about the mental health time bomb that is ticking away in the young and the old. Loss of hope should never be underestimated – at any age.

Six months ago that dashing young Chancellor Mr Sunak was heralded as a saviour by many. Free money for those entitled to furlough and grants for businesses was the messaging.

It was decisive and targeted to keep people in some form of income so that the economy did not collapse. Well Done and God Bless Robin Hood.

But, alas the tiara has now slipped and Sunak looks weak and exactly what he is – a politician with a complete lack of creativit y and advised by Whitehall mandarins with safe salaries and goldplated pensions.

What he is proposing now is killing off and will cripple many businesses and self- employed people.

He is banishing many to Major Tom’s all-time lows. And there is no need for it if he looks closer at economics and pandemics. Perhaps he should look west to Uncle Sam.

Wall Street, the US financial powerhouse, is at all-time highs. How can this be, one might ask. As industries change and adapt to more remote working with layoffs happening and planned, how can Wall Street keep booming ahead?

It’s easy to work out. Wall Street is a classic Major Tom junkie. It cannot stand on its own t wo feet at the moment and is 100 per cent addicted to stimulus from the Federal Government. Why? If Wall Street actually acted as it should as a sor t of proxy for the real economy then American would hit a bigger Great Depression than 1929.

The Yanks’ savings and pensions are all tied into Wall Street, so if it heads south, they will lose billions.