Why the government's coronavirus support measures need to change

Matthew Lynn proposes three ways for the government to help the economy get through lockdown extra time.

Rishi Sunak at the seaside
Chancellor Rishi Sunak: prepare for more storms
(Image credit: © Alamy)

Lockdown restrictions will not end next week, as originally planned, but will be extended for at least another month (see page 8). The economy will need more support to get through that. The hospitality industry will be badly hit. So will travel if most countries remain on the red or amber list. Many companies will postpone going back to the office and quite a few may cancel leases on expensive space; others will make working from home permanent. Already there are demands for the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to step in with extra support.

Furloughs might have to be extended, rent and rate holidays kept in place, and soft loans will have to be extended to businesses that are struggling to make ends meet. Many of the existing schemes started to taper away from the end of June. It is perfectly reasonable to extend that help if restrictions remain in place. But we shouldn’t pretend that every policy from the last year has been a success, or that every form of support can simply be rolled forward for another four weeks. Instead, this is the moment to make some significant changes – and start getting it right.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.