Boris Johnson is drawing up a ‘Great Recovery Bill’ to slash red tape and help get the economy moving again, and ministers have been told to submit ideas for reforms that would allow firms to adapt to the upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Government officials are also being asked to find ways of ensuring essential services can operate while social distancing remains in place.
The plans would be rolled together in a legislative agenda provisionally entitled the ‘Great Recovery Bill’. It will sit alongside a mini-budget, pencilled in for July, which is expected to include tax cuts to fuel consumer spending and business investment.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who is under pressure to temporarily lower VAT and stamp duty, is considering a national insurance holiday for employers to boost jobs.
As the official Covid-19 death toll passed 40,000 today, the Government said they were still aiming to ease a swathes of lockdown restrictions on businesses on June 15, with non-essential retail being allowed to open back up again.
Mr Johnson’s shake-up could include major reforms to the planning system to revive his ‘infrastructure revolution’, which has stalled during the lockdown. Ministers believe new housing, roads and broadband will be central to any recovery.
Boris Johnson is drawing up a ‘Great Recovery Bill’ to slash red tape and help get the economy moving again, and is asking Ministers to submit ideas that will prop up firms following the pandemic’s upheaval of the economy
Plans to create a network of ‘freeports’, where normal tax and customs rules do not apply, are also set to be fast-tracked.
A Government source said: ‘Departments are being asked to identify the things they need to keep services going, but also the changes that would free up the economy and get business moving again once we start to open up.
‘The idea is to then put them all into one big piece of legislation that helps get the recovery going.’
The Prime Minister’s plan comes as:
- Questions were asked about whether the lockdown was ever necessary as another study suggested the outbreak was under control before the draconian measures were imposed on March 23;
- Health Secretary Matt Hancock said all hospital patients, visitors and staff will have to wear masks from June 15, as it was revealed coronavirus cases fell by 30 per cent last week to 5,600 a day;
- He also urged people to stay away from George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protests across the country this weekend to avoid spreading the virus;
- Tony Blair urged Number 10 to set up a mass testing programme which would see the bulk of the UK population checked for coronavirus as he suggested that is the only way to prevent a second outbreak;
- Fears of a second wave were sparked after Iran became the first country in the world to report another cluster of coronavirus infections after easing its lockdown;
- British Airways threatened legal action against the Government over its 14-day quarantine plan for travellers entering the UK;
- Half of Britons are shunning Chinese products and two-thirds would like the government to impose more tariffs on imports from the communist state, according to a poll;
- Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca revealed it is already manufacturing Oxford University’s experimental vaccine in India, the UK and Europe amid plans to distribute 2billion doses as early as September if it works;
- The anti-malarial drug hailed as a miracle virus cure by Donald Trump is ‘useless’, a British study concluded;
- TV presenter Kate Garraway broke down in tears as she revealed critically-ill husband Derek Draper thanked her for ‘saving his life’ before he slipped into a coma during his 10-week battle with coronavirus.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who is under pressure to temporarily lower VAT and stamp duty, is considering a national insurance holiday for employers to boost jobs
Some of the red tape that ministers will target can be ditched without the need for primary legislation. They are already considering scrapping local authority fees for cafes and restaurants that want to put tables on the pavement.
But other changes will require primary legislation and have prompted the idea of a wide-ranging new law.
The Department for Education is assessing whether further legal changes may be needed to allow a full return to school in September, when social distancing is expected to make normal classes difficult.
And the Ministry of Justice is considering whether to allow juries to sit with fewer than 12 members in order to allow for social distancing in court.
The Prime Minister is calling for a ‘green recovery’ and new investment is expected in electric vehicles and battery technology to help the ailing car industry.
Government sources have indicated that despite the dire impact of the lockdown on the public finances, which could see the deficit soar to more than £300billion this year, Mr Sunak is keen to cut taxes.
One idea is a national insurance holiday for employers, which experts believe could save hundreds of thousands of jobs and stimulate investment.
But Mr Sunak is also under pressure to cut personal taxes to revive collapsed consumer demand and directly put money into the pockets of families.
Former Labour and Tory chancellors Lord Darling and Philip Hammond this week backed calls for a temporary VAT cut.
Mr Hammond said there was ‘no economic logic to increasing taxes in the short term’, adding: ‘The question is as we move more deeply into the recovery phase, there may be a need for some short-term fiscal stimulus to the economy and that could be delivered most obviously through tax cuts.’
Face masks will be compulsory for ALL hospital staff and visitors and outpatients must wear homemade coverings from June 15
Face coverings will become compulsory in hospitals for all staff, visitors and outpatients from June 15, Matt Hancock revealed today.
Medical and other staff will have to wear surgical masks at all times, the Health Secretary announced tonight.
Visitors and outpatients attending appointments will not be allowed in without wearing the sort of face coverings that can be made at home, he also told tonight’s Downing Street press conference.
The announcement came after a similar move yesterday, when it was revealed face coverings would be compulsory on public transport from the same day.
Mr Hancock said the move was required to protect all hospital workers as NHS units gradually reopen their doors for procedures that were delayed by the coronavirus response.
‘As the NHS reopens right across the country, it’s critically important to stop the spread amongst staff, patients and visitors too,’ he said.
Medical and other staff will have to wear surgical masks at all times, the Health Secretary announced tonight
Mr Hancock also revealed he had donated blood plasma to an antibody trial in London today (pictured)
‘So today we’re setting out that all hospital visitors and outpatients will need to wear face coverings.
‘One of the things that we’ve learnt is that those in hospital, those who are working in hospital, are more likely to catch coronavirus whether they work in a clinical setting or not.
‘And so to offer even greater protection we’re also providing new guidance for NHS staff in England which will come into force again on June 15 and all hospital staff will be required to wear type one or two surgical masks.
‘And this will cover all staff working in hospital, it will apply at all times – not just when they are doing life-saving work on the frontline – and it will apply in all areas, except those areas designated as Covid-secure workplaces.’
It came as newly updated World Health Organisation (WHO) advice advised people to wear homemade fabric masks in public where social distancing is not possible.
The WHO previously stressed there was no evidence that wearing a mask – whether medical or other types – by healthy people in the wider community could prevent them from infection with respiratory viruses, including Covid-19.
However, it said ‘evolving’ new science now pointed to the use of medical-grade masks in hospital settings – even for those not treating coronavirus patients – as well as similar protection worn by people aged 60 or over, or with underlying health conditions, when outside of their home where social distancing was not possible.
Mr Hancock said the Government was upgrading the guidance to ensure that ‘even as the virus comes under control’ hospitals are a place of ‘care and of safety’.
‘We’ve also strengthened infection control in care homes and we’re working with the social care sector on how this approach can apply appropriately in social care too.
‘It’s about protecting the NHS and social care, which means protecting our colleagues who work in the NHS and in social care.’
Earlier today a senior Government minister rejected calls to force shoppers to wear face coverings – as medics demanded that strict rules forcing their use on public transport be brought in immediately.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who last night revealed that commuters face £80 for not wearing them from June 15, said this morning they were not required in other settings because people spend little time in close proximity.
It came after the head of the British Medical Association, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said the compulsory wearing of face coverings should be introduced in ‘all areas’ where social distancing is not possible, and should start immediately.
Only a handful of Tube users wore masks at rush hour today as Dr Nagpaul warned delaying the £80 fines will only make the spread of coronavirus worse.
Commuters again packed on to the London Underground and were forced to break social distancing rules on the Jubilee Line, which runs through the heart of the capital.
The BMA head said face covers ‘should not be restricted to public transport’, raising the prospect of masks also becoming compulsory in shops, restaurants and pubs.
The Government has previously said that it plans for non-essential retailers to reopen from June 15.
But Mr Shapps said High Street browsing was ‘clearly not the same’ as being on a bus or train for a sustained period of time.
He told the BBC: ‘I think the big difference is in a shop you may well pass somebody and the guidance acknowledges you might be near somebody for a short period of time but then you are going to move on.
‘On public transport you could be next to somebody for 10, 20 minutes, 30 minutes so there is a much larger chance of being close to somebody for a longer period of time plus the guidance for shops is don’t let the shop become overcrowded and that is something you can control with queues outside the shops, we are all used to them now, two metre queues outside.’