Boris Johnson set to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions tonight May 10, 2020 Boris Johnson is expected to announce an easing of the UK’s coronavirus lockdown tonight as the government implements a new five-tier warning rating. It is expected that the Prime Minister will announce that, from next week, people will be allowed to exercise more than once a day and sunbathe as long as two metres distance [...]
Coronavirus: Britain’s pandemic response has nothing to do with funding May 10, 2020 There have been no good weeks for Britain since the lockdown began, but last week has surely been among the worst. On Monday, the news that half of all adults are now being paid for by the state and consternation over how the Chancellor will ever roll back the furlough scheme. On Wednesday, national humiliation [...]
Coronavirus: Digital is at the heart of SME recovery May 9, 2020 Gary Turner is co-founder of Xero Behind the sobering statistics around businesses in financial distress, thousands of SMEs are making radical changes to their working models through digitisation. Businesses that have been traditional at the core are now discovering that digital processes offer far greater scalability and resilience, and as a result of Covid-19 I [...]
Extend job retention scheme to stop unemployment spike, says think tank May 9, 2020 The UK’s coronavirus job retention scheme must be extended for three months in order to prevent joblessness from spiking, an employment think tank has said. Under the job retention scheme (JRS) the government pays 80 per cent of “furloughed” workers’ wages, up to a limit of £2,500 a month. In a report out today, UK [...]
UK coronavirus death toll rises by 626 to 31,241 ahead of lockdown easing May 8, 2020 The UK government has announced that 626 more people have died from coronavirus since yesterday, taking the total death toll to 31,241. Environment secretary George Eustice said that 4,649 more people had tested positive for Covid-19 since yesterday. That took the total to 211,364. Eustice said that 97,000 people were tested yesterday. That is short [...]
US stocks rise on China trade hopes despite dire jobs report May 8, 2020 US stocks have risen in early trading despite the worst unemployment report in modern history, as investors take cheer in the US and China’s agreement to work together on the smooth implementation of their trade deal. The Dow Jones index was 1.5 per cent higher. The S&P 500 rose 1.3 per cent while the Nasdaq [...]
Nonfarm payrolls: US unemployment soars as 21m Americans lose jobs May 8, 2020 More than 20m Americans lost their jobs in April, official “nonfarm payrolls” data has shown, as the world’s largest economy was battered by coronavirus and the lockdowns put in place to stop it spreading. The 20.5m job losses sent the unemployment rate soaring to 14.7 per cent, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said, [...]
Sajid Javid: UK should run the economy ‘hot’ and support lenders May 8, 2020 Former chancellor Sajid Javid has said the government should “run the economy hot” and lift coronavirus restrictions to encourage growth. He also suggested “bad banks” could be created to help the UK’s lenders which are set to struggle with bad loans as coronavirus crashes the economy. Javid’s intervention came after the Bank of England yesterday [...]
Banking boss raises prospect of further changes to Coronavirus Business Loan Scheme May 8, 2020 There could be further changes to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) as more data emerges on the number of rejected applications, according to the head of the banking industry group, UK Finance. Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, said: “I think as the data gets better we will continue to find where [...]
What time is the Queen’s VE Day speech? May 8, 2020 The Queen will address the nation today for the 75th anniversary of VE Day, although celebrations will be muted with the country in lockdown due to coronavirus. Despite the pandemic, Royal Air Force jets will fly over the UK’s four capitals to mark Victory in Europe day, when Nazi Germany surrendered during World War II. [...]
