Overhaul town centres with windfall tax on billionaires

WHEN our nation is threatened, as in the current Covid crisis, it appears the Government can make available as many resources as necessary to tackle it.

However, with Covid, once the virus has been controlled, it will leave in its aftermath an economic legacy which will affect large swathes of the UK.

This will again require the necessary resources as well as some ingenuity and “blue sky” thinking from Dominic Cummings and his colleagues in order to prevent long- term permanent damage to our society.

The legacy in question will be the spectre of boarded- up ghost towns, many, still to this day, struggling from the impact of the neo- liberal economic policy advocated by Margaret Thatcher’s favourite economist, one Friedrich von Hayek.

Covid, or more accurately, the control policy of lockdowns, has created a fundamental shift in the nation’s shopping habits. Changing from that of a personal/ sociable, touchy- feely bricks and mortar experience to that of online shopping from the comfort of your bedroom but socially isolated.

This has benefitted some, such as Amazon, and decimated others, such as fashion, hospitality and entertainment, the very backbone of our culture. To avert this I would suggest the following:

■ Convert the town centres into a mixture of residential property, bars, clubs and restaurants serving a variety of world cuisine.

■ This creates much- needed jobs for tradesmen and their apprentices, whilst boosting the building material supply and house furnishing sector. This may involve compulsory purchases by local government, but will take some load from green belt land.

■ Pedestrianise as much of the area as possible, creating a greener and more pleasant space.

■ Provide extensive all- weather outside dining areas, much like

Spain in the winter, creating a more Covid- safe environment.

■ Most importantly, fill this new living space with people who have bought into a Western capitalist culture and get their enjoyment by spending money on socialising, entertainment and dining.

Funding for this could be augmented by a Covid windfall tax on the UK’s billionaires, who have done quite well from Covid. Over the long term, the increased economic activity thus generated and tax paid would feed back into the Exchequer.