Coronavirus: £350bn bailout to stop Britain going broke

Camley's Cartoon: Coronavirus aid package unveiled.

The Prime Minister said the UK Government must and would act with a “profound sense of urgency” as the number of those infected with Covid-19 increased by 407 to 1,950. The number of deaths also rose from 55 to 71 with a second death in Scotland and a second one in Wales.

With towns and cities across Britain much emptier as people heeded the Government's advice and stayed home, Mr Johnson told a Downing St press conference: “We must act like any wartime government and do whatever it takes to support our economy.”

• READ MORE: All routine NHS ops cancelled for 3 months

Standing beside him, Rishi Sunak declared: “This is not a time for ideology and orthodoxy, this is a time to be bold, a time for courage.”

The Chancellor pointed out: “Never in peacetime have we faced an economic fight like this one,” and admitted the Government’s new measures were unimaginable only a few weeks ago yet stressed he would go further if necessary.

The new measures are:

*a three-month mortgage holiday for home-owners;

*business loans of up to £5m with no interest due for the first six months;

*cash grants of up to £25,000 to smaller businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a rateable value less than £51,000;

*an increase in the £3,000 cash grants to 700,000 of the country's smallest businesses, announced in the Budget, to £10,000 and

*a 12-month business rates holiday extended to all shops, pubs and clubs.

Mr Sunak also pointed in the coming days to talks with the aviation industry to discuss a “potential support package for specifically airlines and airports”.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Keeping virus deaths below 20,000 “good outcome”

The Chancellor added: “The measures I have announced today are part of a comprehensive, co-ordinated and coherent response to what is a serious and evolving economic situation. These are only the first steps; I will set out the next stage of our response in the coming days.”

Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, immediately made clear the Scottish Government would "pass every penny of consequential funding" from the UK Government’s measures onto businesses in Scotland.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, congratulated the Chancellor "for listening carefully to the concerns of retailers", saying he had delivered "a big, bold package of measures that will be a huge cashflow boost and will improve confidence for those affected".

Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said the Government aid package was “essential if businesses are to survive and will provide immediate cashflow support to businesses that urgently require it”.

She added: “We now need the Scottish and UK Governments to provide access to these funds quickly and as easily as possible; any delays could lead to further job losses and we must avoid this at all costs.”

Jonathan Geldart, Chief Executive of the Institute of Directors, said the Chancellor’s whatever-it-takes message was what businesses needed to hear.

But he warned: “No matter the sheer size of today’s measures, the fight won’t be over. As the Chancellor said, this is only the latest step and Government must continue to listen to business leaders and be ready at hand to deliver further measures where needed. Support for employment and the self-employed will be essential as the economy experiences this historic disruption.”

Tim Roache, General Secretary of the GMB union, said while support for business was welcome, workers needed help too because bills would not go away while they self-isolated.

“It’s crucial the Government acts urgently to secure jobs, wages and living standards while keeping workers on the front line safe,” he declared.

Mr Roache added: “We need a sector by sector approach to securing the economy, mitigating losses now and crucially planning now for investment in recovery.”

At the Downing St press conference, Mr Johnson insisted Britain could beat the virus and said: “Be in no doubt: one day the UK economy is going to bounce back and those good, brilliant British companies will bounce back and that is why we are taking the steps to protect them that we are today."

But at Westminster, Labour insisted the Government measures did not go far enough.

John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, said: "People are being laid off today and losing their incomes. We are disappointed that this package does not address their concerns."

Ed Davey for the Liberal Democrats said “every available resource” had to be used to fight the unprecedented threat the country faced.

He called Government to guarantee anyone laid off to receive at least 20 days’ full pay, full council tax relief for bands A to E for at least six months, turn day one Universal Credit loans into grants immediately and ensure no renter is evicted in the coming months as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

The financial aid package came as it was announced all routine operations would be scrapped for at least three months as NHS Scotland was placed on an emergency footing ahead of an expected rapid rise in cases.

It means patients waiting for procedures such as hip and knee replacements will face lengthy delays but Jeane Freeman, the Scottish Health Secretary, insisted urgent cancer surgery, emergency and maternity care would not be disrupted.

She also outlined plans to increase the number of acute hospital beds by 3000, in addition to doubling intensive care capacity, and said talks were underway to ensure NHS patients could be accommodated in private hospitals.  

The measure was mirrored south of the border where all non-urgent operations would also be postponed from 15 April for at least three months to free up 30,000 beds to help tackle coronavirus, NHS England said.

Earlier, Mr Johnson reconfigured his Government structure with the creation of four “war committees” to co-ordinate Whitehall’s emergency response to the pandemic.

Chaired by senior Cabinet colleagues, they will cover healthcare, the public sector, the economy and business and international relations.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Boris Johnson shakes up government in response to outbreak

Last night, Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, wrote to the PM, urging a cross-party approach to tackling coronavirus and in particular that the new committees engage with the leaders of the opposition parties “allowing for input and briefings”.

The Highland MP added: “The scale and seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic demands a collective response across the political spectrum and this unprecedented time requires unprecedented levels of co-operation.”

Also at Westminster, Matt Hancock, the UK Health Secretary, published the Emergency Coronavirus Bill, that among other things will enable the police to have powers to arrest people to protect public health. Holyrood is expected to give its legislative consent for the measures to apply in Scotland.

Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, announced that the Government was advising British citizens against non-essential foreign travel for 30 days to help with their safety and security given the widespread border restrictions and lockdowns in some countries.

Earlier, Mr Johnson joined the leaders of France, Germany and Turkey in a conference call, that discussed the situation in Syria, but also touched on the pandemic. Downing St said they all agreed that “concerted multilateral action was essential to support the global health response and mitigate the economic impact of coronavirus”.

On the financial markets, the turbulence continued but the international effort helped shares recover with the FTSE 100 up 2.5 per cent and Wall St jumping six per cent after US President Donald Trump promised to “go big” with a financial stimulus.

In other developments:

*Sir Roger Valance, the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, said around 55,000 people in the UK now had Covid-19 and told MPs it was hoped the death toll could be kept to under 20,000, which he  suggested would be a “good outcome” – the acceleration of the Government’s steps came on the back of academic research, which warned the death toll could be as high as 250,000;

*Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian mother, has been released temporarily from Tehran’s notorious Evin jail because of the outbreak after the regime released 85,000 prisoners for a period to help curb the spread of the virus;

*the Queen, 93, is to base herself at Windsor Castle with a reduced household, moving there a week earlier than normal for her Easter break, and is likely to stay there beyond Easter as she follows Government guidance;

• READ MORE: Former SNP minister says chances of Indyref2 this year now 'zilch'

*Nissan has suspended production at its Sunderland factory, where it employs 7,000 people, due supply chain disruption and a sudden fall in demand due to the outbreak;

*Morrisons, the supermarket giant, is creating 3,500 new jobs as it expands its home delivery service to cope with soaring demand amid the crisis;

*charity Care4Calais warned thousands of migrants living in desperate conditions on the French coastline while they wait to cross to the UK are at high risk from coronavirus;

*the list of sporting disruption lengthened with the postponement until next year of the Euro 2020 football tournament and the cancellation of the Grand National;

*among entertainment venues closing are the V&A museums in London and Dundee, the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Academy and

*Bafta has postponed its annual television awards that were due to take place on May 17.