Scottish government does U-turn on coronavirus business grant scheme April 15, 2020 The Scottish government has changed its coronavirus business grant scheme to make it more generous for hospitality, retail and tourism chains after mounting criticism from the private sector. SNP finance minister Kate Forbes unveiled £220m of new grants today in a bid to close the gap between relief available for Scottish and English businesses. English [...]
Lending through UK coronavirus scheme hits £1.1bn after three weeks April 15, 2020 The UK’s coronavirus business loan scheme has picked up after firms complained it was not working, with £1.1bn lent out to 6,020 small and medium-sized companies as of yesterday. Banking body UK Finance today said total lending under the scheme has grown by £700m in the last week after criticism of the programme led the [...]
UK coronavirus lockdown: Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer pushes for exit strategy April 15, 2020 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for transparency over when UK coronavirus lockdown measures will ease, as the government faces pressure over its care homes strategy. Starmer’s party will back the government’s likely extension of the coronavirus lockdown tomorrow. But he has said “there needs to be transparency” over how long the measures will [...]
Businesses still struggling to access coronavirus loan scheme, says BCC April 15, 2020 Only two per cent of businesses have successfully managed to access the government’s coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), according to a survey published today. Nine per cent of respondents to the survey by the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) said they were unsuccessful with slow or no response from lenders the main reason cited. [...]
Coronavirus: Vital to start planning for economic recovery, CBI says April 14, 2020 The head of the UK’s largest business lobbying group has said that the UK must begin to plan its economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic even while the death toll continues to rise. Speaking to Sky News, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, the director-general of the CBI, said that “we need to begin to chart a route [...]
Coronavirus: New York hospitalisations fall for the first time April 14, 2020 The number of patients hospitalised with coronavirus in New York fell for the first time today, leading to hopes that the virus may have reached its peak in the state. New York governor Andrew Cuomo said that total of 18,697 people were hospitalized across the state, down from 18,825 a day earlier and the first [...]
Rishi Sunak says there is ‘no trade off’ between economy and public health April 14, 2020 Rishi Sunak has said there is no trade-off between public health and the economy in the wake of new estimates suggesting GDP will drop by 35 per cent this quarter. Speaking at today’s press briefing, the chancellor said the coronavirus lockdown was necessary to protect the long-term future of the economy. This is in contrast [...]
‘Unfair’ Covid-19 business grant scheme means more Scottish firms could go under April 14, 2020 Concerns are growing among Scottish businesses that the SNP government’s failure to match Westminster’s coronavirus economic support will force a string of retail and hospitality chains to go bust. English hospitality, tourism and leisure chains have been offered government grants of up to £25,000 per property, as long as the building’s rateable value is less [...]
Coronavirus: UK economy could shrink by 35 per cent in second quarter April 14, 2020 The UK economy could shrink by 35 per cent in the second quarter of this year and unemployment could hit 10 per cent as coronavirus lockdown measures take a devastating toll, Britain’s budget watchdog has warned. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said such a slowdown could send the budget deficit to its highest level [...]
Sajid Javid: Right policies can make economy’s coronavirus recovery ‘V-shaped’ April 14, 2020 Former chancellor Sajid Javid has said the UK economy’s recovery from coronavirus can be “V-shaped” if the government follows “free market” policies once the worst of the virus has passed. Javid – who was chancellor for seven months until February – today welcomed his successor Rishi Sunak’s unprecedented interventions into the economy. Sunak has unveiled [...]