JAYNE DOWLE on Monday
The challenge for the Prime Minister, following his address to the nation, is to steer a sensible way through the big ‘return to work’. It is possibly the biggest hurdle of the coronavirus lockdown.
HOW DO you persuade millions of people to stop what they are doing and change course in the middle of uncharted territory?
The challenge for the Prime Minister, following his address to the nation last night, is to steer a sensible way through the big ‘return to work’.
It is possibly the biggest hurdle of the entire coronavirus lockdown. And Mr Johnson has faced some pretty major ones already, personal and political.
Perhaps to our own surprise, we have – with relatively few exceptions – followed the advice to ‘Stay home/Save Lives/ Protect the NHS’ to the absolute letter since the end of March.
Millions of employees have shifted to working from home. To date, further millions have been furloughed by their employers and received 80 per cent of their salaries from the Government.
Then there are the other millions. The shopkeepers and the restaurant and caféowners, for instance, who have continued to work throughout the crisis, adapting their businesses to deliver food and supplies to their communities.
And yet further millions, the sole traders, small businesses and selfemployed, who have no choice but to make their own decisions over when to return to public operations. There is noone to hold their hands.
Some who work for themselves may not have been eligible for coronavirus financial support. Or if they can claim from the Government’s self-employment scheme, the cheque won’t be in the post until June.
For them, going back to work isn’t a case of foolhardy greed. It’s the urgent matter of earning money to buy food, pay bills and keep a roof over their heads. Frankly, they don’t have the luxury of choice.
I’m not outlining all this to score points or create division. My intention is the very opposite. If we really are all in this together, we have to start looking to each other for strength and inspiration.
And this means we have to pull together like never before. At some point, starting in earnest this week, we have to start the wheels of the economy turning again.
Billions of pounds of government money have been poured into fighting the virus; the revenue to cover this colossal outlay must be generated somehow.
I’m sorry if this sounds harsh, but without any means of generating revenue from taxation, we’re heading for national disaster. Without trade and commerce, we will become impotent globally. No-one would wish for that.
Above all then, we must face our fear. A national poll suggested that the public fears the virus far more than immediate economic meltdown. There’s even a name for it – ‘coronaphobia’.
Some 62 per cent of us are most worried about the lockdown being relaxed “too quickly” while 38 per cent said their biggest concern was the economic impact of the curbs.
Meanwhile, economists suggest that Britain faces the biggest recession for 300 years when the South Sea Bubble burst and ruined the fortunes of countless investors.
The comparison is opportune; the South Sea Bubble was so catastrophic because it encompassed the entire nation. Everyone from housemaids and shopkeepers to MPs and the aristocracy were encouraged to buy shares in a failed enterprise to raise millions to finance a war against France. They really were ‘all in this together’.
This dire prediction for the economy must be balanced with protecting the public from any fresh surge of the virus and also, of course, the potential concomitant effect on the NHS.
For this, we must put our faith in those who are drawing up detailed plans for a phased return to what will pass for ‘normality’.
It’s all a matter of balance, and I’d say a healthy dose of common sense. We have already proved that we can follow rules, literally to the letter. Now what we must also do is to learn to think for ourselves again.
For many people, especially those who have suffered from Covid-19 themselves or lost loved ones to the virus, this will be difficult and should be respected by employers.
However, if the Government plays its part by unlocking arrangements in a logical and justifiable manner, we will each have a framework on which to operate.
If this involves, for instance, staggered working hours, or social distancing on public transport, the least we can expect is for ministers to put in place measures to make this viable.
Mr Johnson would be wise to concentrate on the biggest possible picture, yet remain vigilant to nuance at all times. In a cacophonous world where everyone has an opinion and ‘expert’ voices constantly clamour for airtime, this will be no easy task. However, if he does it successfully, it will prove – once and for all – that he is a genuine leader.