Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has kept a clear line throughout the pandemic by arguing for the economy. Has this sidelined the health and lives of British citizens?
A year ago, when the first lock-down was only a few weeks old, he impatiently argued for a speedy return to “normality”. In early June he confidently contradicted the experts by claiming that the easing of the lockdown was absolutely safe.
A few months later he introduced the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme. This gave those who could afford to go to a restaurant £10 off the bill, although three weeks earlier he had refused to give poorer families free school-meals during the summer break. The school-meal policy was reversed in one of the Government’s frequent U-turns.
Unsurprisingly a study by Warwick University later showed that encouraging people to eat out in August had caused a 17% increase in the Covid-19 infection rate.
In September, when the infection rates were once again soaring, Mr Sunak argued against a second lockdown, because it would hurt the economy. Not just the health experts but many laymen could predict the devastating result of the delay of the lockdown.
This spring the Chancellor maintains his distrust of experts who he claims keep changing the goal posts. He also urges employers to open up offices and stop employees working from home.
It is understandable, indeed commendable, that a Chancellor takes a stance for the country’s economy. However, even a Chancellor should know that the economy does not function well constant political U-turns, incompetence and indecision.
Just as the people depend on the economy, the economy depends on the people.
Photo: Ilyas Tayfun Salci / Shutterstock.com
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