Corona costing us £2.4billion a day

THE incredible cost of Britain’s lockdown was revealed last night.

Economists put the bill at £2.4billion a day with national output slashed by a devastating 31 per cent.

Factories, shops, restaurants, hotels and builders have been hit worst because their employees are unable to work remotely, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

The think-tank’s report lays bare the ‘extremely severe consequences’ of strict social distancing rules. It also raises questions over how long the lockdown can be justified when the economic damage is so grave.

In a separate report, the Institute for Fiscal Studies claimed younger and lower-paid workers will be hurt most by the lockdown.

One third of people employed by pubs, clubs, restaurants and other businesses told to shut under social distancing measures are younger than 25, it said. And women were more likely to suffer than men.

Downing Street has denied claims of a rift between Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Chancellor Rishi Sunak over when the restrictions should end.

Yesterday Mr Hancock insisted the rules were ‘mission critical’ to slow the spread of the contagion.

But former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith claimed the economy could take only a few more weeks of lockdown before it was damaged beyond repair.

And the CEBR’s findings will raise concerns about a prolonged lockdown, after one of Boris Johnson’s

advisers claimed it could do more harm than the virus itself.

Professor Graham Medley said the trade-off between protecting the most vulnerable and helping the wider population was being ‘increasingly considered’.

The short-term disruption from the lockdown is pushing many firms to the brink, the CEBR warned. Daryn Park, one of the think-tank’s researchers, said: ‘If you are a shop, no one can come in so you are not selling to anyone, and many manufacturers have had to completely shut down. These companies employ people who cannot do their jobs from home – so their economic output is effectively zero.’

The CEBR said that manufacturing was suffering the most, with inactivity costing the economy £500million a day.

The hospitality sector is also haemorrhaging £172million a day, construction £237million and nongrocery retailers £156million.

Sir Iain said the lockdown should not continue until May. He added: ‘There will be a crossover point when the economy becomes vital and the Covid becomes less vital.’

Former Supreme Court justice Jonathan Sumption said the ‘irrational horror of death’ has led to unnecessarily ‘costly’ measures.

Writing in the Sunday Times, the 71-year- old peer said the strict governmental measures will bring ‘even greater misfortunes of a different kind’.