• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Business and Economics

Chancellor may have to eat his words and write off toxic Covid-19 debt

Former chancellor Lord Lamont has warned ‘the difficult part is yet to come’.

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2020-07-17 13:59
in Business and Economics
Credit;PA

Credit;PA

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Rishi Sunak may find “words are for eating” and be forced to reverse any opposition to writing off “toxic” Covid-19 debt facing companies, a former chancellor has said.

Lord Lamont of Lerwick applauded the “bold” measures taken by the Chancellor, although he warned that the “difficult part is yet to come” as Britain faces a “tsunami” of job losses.

He also insisted that lifting restrictions, such as social distancing “when health considerations allow”, would be better than any financial rescue package.

His comments came as peers considered the Finance Bill, which enacts measures contained within the March Budget, and the stamp duty holiday for buyers in England and Northern Ireland.

Lord Lamont said Mr Sunak does not need to act in the autumn to address the cost of his multibillion-pound measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but he does need to “set out a timetable” in order to show that “long term the finances will be sustainable”.

Another cloud approaching

He told peers: “There’s also another cloud approaching – that of private and corporate indebtedness.

“The longer restrictions go on, the greater this becomes.

Lord Lamont
Lord Lamont served as chancellor under Sir John Major (Matthew Fearn/PA)

“Already in the US some banks have made huge provisions. The new head of the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) warned of the possible need for a massive write-off of toxic Covid debt in order to stop the economy from stagnating.

“The Chancellor has already rejected this but I fear he may find, as politicians so often do, that words are for eating.

RelatedPosts

Britishvolt closure a ‘monument to global Britain’s empty hype’

‘From rhetoric to recession’: Dutch press say Britain is now facing economic realities of Brexit

Brexit to blame for collapse of electric car battery company – William Hague

UK suffering from ‘catastrophic’ impact of Brexit – Asda chairman

“The Chancellor has been bold, I applaud him, but the difficult part is yet to come.”

Lord Lamont earlier warned that the job retention bonus (JRB) scheme, which involves paying a £1,000 bonus to firms taking staff off furlough, may “partially postpone the cliff edge back to January”.

But he said: “It is difficult to believe we’re going to avoid a tsunami of job losses.

Hard truth

“The hard truth is this – no Finance Bill, no fiscal stimulus, no monetary stimulus can entirely compensate for the effects of restrictions like lockdown or social distancing.”

Lord Lamont said the Government’s £1.57 billion package of assistance for the arts was well received, although he noted: “I doubt if it will result in theatres or concert venues putting on a single extra performance because most of the money will go on mothballing facilities because theatres need to sell something like three out of four seats.

“In the meantime in South Korea, Phantom Of The Opera is selling to packed houses because social distancing does not exist in theatres.

“What is true for culture is true for the commercial sector in spades.

“Financial support is fine, lifting restrictions is better and should be – when health considerations, of course, allow – the goal.

“It’d be good if ministers could emphasise this more. Instead, some ministers talk about social distancing being here to stay or face masks being here for the foreseeable future.

“For an economy like ours, largely service and where services depend partly on human proximity, social distancing is not easily compatible with them.

“Sir Patrick Vallance (chief scientific adviser) has said there’s no reason people shouldn’t work at home. We have to consider the economic effects – on our offices, on the City of London, on the hospitality sector.”

Ulster Unionist Party peer Lord Empey said the streets in Westminster are “largely empty” and this is “symptomatic of around the country”.

Colossal difficulty

He told the same debate: “I think we need to get our act together and bearing in mind if there were to be a second spike, I think our economy would be in colossal difficulty.”

Conservative peer Lord Naseby agreed that people must return to work as it is “the only way we’ll get back to normal life”.

Contributing virtually, he said: “In my judgment, now all employees should return to work both in the public and private sector and not stay at home.

“I believe that all civil servants should stop working from home, all Parliament personnel should stop working at home and come in to Parliament, and the same applies to the private sector.

“We must, for their sake, reassure them they are going to be safe and they need to use public transport.”

Related – PMQs – PM’s pants joke leaves a stain on the race to the bottom

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Rolls-Royce CEO called out for sniggering as huge job losses are announced

Can Eddie Jones return England to the top?

Moving to the financial hub of London for work from abroad

UK set for ‘incomplete V-shaped’ economic recovery, warns Bank rate-setter

The Great City Escape

Coronavirus UK – Panic buyers ‘should be ashamed’ & stockpiling needs to end

Video – PM urged ‘patriotic best’ & go to pub now Govt minister blames it for rise in infections

Watch – Slim pickings! Man opens bag of Waitrose crisps containing just ONE crisp

Techniques developed by astronomers could help fight against breast and skin cancer

‘Game is up for the union’, says Blackford as he calls for Scottish referendum

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.