Coronavirus UK: Charts show economy in unprecedented recession

The grim consequences for UK plc of the coronavirus crisis are becoming clearer with every passing day – as GDP goes into free-fall, public debt soars past £2trillion and millions become unemployed.  Apocalyptic predictions from the Bank of England and others show the UK is on track for the worst recession in 300 years, when … Read more

Chancellor Rishi Sunak warns of economic ‘scarring’ from coronavirus

Chancellor Rishi Sunak warns of economic ‘scarring’ from coronavirus saying there might not be an ‘immediate bounceback’ – as he hints self-employed bailout will not carry on past June Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been giving evidence to a House of Lords committee Warned of economic ‘scarring’ from covid and recovery may not be ‘immediate’ Hinted … Read more

More than 2m self-employed have claimed £6bn in coronavirus grants

More than two-million self-employed have claimed £6billion in coronavirus grants in just FIVE DAYS, says Chancellor Rishi Sunak Government’s self-employed bailout opened to applications just five days ago  More than two million have claimed total of £6billion in grants, Rishi Sunak says  Huge sums will raise fresh concerns about government’s coronavirus liabilities   Here’s how to … Read more

NHS staff beg the Government not to freeze public sector wages to help pay for COVID-19 crisis

Hundreds of NHS staff beg the Government not to freeze public sector wages to help pay for coronavirus crisis NHS workers beg Chancellor Rishi Sunak to rule out public sector freeze pay It comes after a leaked Treasury report a two-pay halt on public wage rises The report warned of a £337bn Budget deficit following … Read more

ANDREW PIERCE: Tories count the cost of the coronavirus curse

Ever since Chancellor Rishi Sunak turned on the spending taps to save Britain’s businesses amid the lockdown, there have been grumblings in the Tory Party about the gigantic bill that will need paying after the crisis.  One can therefore only imagine how they’ll react on discovering that the party’s own coffers could also soon run … Read more

Free market think tank backs Rishi Sunak’s spending spree to beat coronavirus

Right-wing think tank says there should be no return to austerity once Rishi Sunak’s spending spree to beat coronavirus is over – as top economist says slashing public expenditure is ‘not a done deal’ The free-market think-tank has backed Rishi Sunak’s public spending increase It comes just days after GDP figures showed the economy contracted … Read more

Free market think tanks back Rishi Sunak’s spending spree to beat coronavirus

Thatcherite free-market think-tanks have said there should be no return to austerity once Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spending boost to beat coronavirus is over – as a top economist says slashing public expenditure is ‘not a done deal.’ The Adam Smith Institute, the Centre for Policy Studies, the Institute of Economic Affairs and Policy Exchange, previously … Read more

Coronavirus UK: Bosses warn of job losses once furlough ends

Bosses have warned there will inevitably be mass job losses when employers are asked to start sharing up to 50 per cent of the cost of the government’s furlough scheme in August.  Industry experts also claim Chancellor Rishi Sunak‘s extension to the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) – where the Treasury bankrolls 80 per cent of … Read more

UK faces ‘recession to end all recessions’ with GDP set to plunge 30%

The UK faces a ‘recession to end all recessions’ with GDP plunging nearly a third this quarter, experts said today – amid warnings the misery will go on as long as social distancing remains in place. The respected IFS think-tank said the scale of the nose-dive due to coronavirus lockdown will be like nothing seen … Read more

ALEX BRUMMER: Rishi Sunak’s decision to extend the furlough to October is a body blow

Grim economic news is something we have had to get used to in the past two months but yesterday was something of a body blow. Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement that he was extending the jobs retention scheme until October is the most ominous of all the amendments and additions to the bailout for the economy … Read more

Britons face pay freezes and tax rises to cover £300bn bill for coronavirus

Britain’s bill for the pandemic could hit £300billion and force tax rises, cuts to the state pension and a public-sector pay freeze, a Treasury document warns. A paper drawn up for Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the austerity-style policies – including drastic cuts to public spending and welfare – may have to be announced within weeks … Read more

Rishi Sunak concedes recession is already happening as he extends furlough scheme again

Rishi Sunak concedes recession is already happening in grim warning of hard times to come as he extends the furlough scheme again Sunak said it was clear June deadline for furlough would have to be extended Told MPs scheme would continue ‘completely unchanged’ until the end of July Furlough been accessed by 935,000 businesses since … Read more