UK businesses 'clamouring' for lockdown easing

Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to say when a phased reduction of the lockdown on UK businesses would begin as he returned to work on Monday after spending more than three weeks recovering from Covid-19.

David Sapsted

27 April 2020

Speaking from a podium in Downing Street, Mr Johnson acknowledged there was mounting pressure to lift some of the draconian restrictions imposed on businesses and said he wanted "to get this economy moving as fast as I can".But he added: "I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and to risk a second major outbreak and huge loss of life."His comments came as a major survey of more than a thousand business leaders by the Institute of Directors (IoD) showed there was a growing "clamour" from companies for clear guidance on how the economy would be reopened.But Mr Johnson said that Britain was still in the first phase of the fight against the pandemic and that the spread of the virus would have to be suppressed before restrictions on individuals and businesses could be eased "one by one to fire up the engines of this vast UK economy".He added: "And in that process difficult judgments will be made and we simply cannot spell out now how fast or slow or even when those changes will be made, though clearly the government will be saying much more about this in the coming days."His remarks came as the IoD survey showed growing pessimism among business leaders over their organisations' prospects for the coming 12 months with a record level of 46 per cent saying they quite or very pessimistic about the future.Jon Geldart, IoD director-general, said: "Over the last few days the clamour from our members for information on how and when coronavirus-related restrictions will begin to lift has increased substantially."Directors from all parts of the UK need to make plans for riding out this tempest, but they can't get very far if they have no idea what will be happening in a few weeks time."The government faces a near-impossible task in protecting the nation's health while also thinking about how to let businesses restart."Directors do not in any way want to be reckless, quite the opposite. They want to know how they can get going again safely in a way that supports efforts to make sure the virus is kept under control."It's in everyone's interests to get the economy off life support when it's safe to do so. Business leaders know this will not happen all in one go, but that's why it's even more important to tell them what they need to prepare for.Publication of the IoD survey coincided with increasing calls from senior Conservative backers and MPs for the government to begin lifting the lockdown amid mounting concern over damage to the economy.Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 committee of MPs, told BBC Radio 4 that there was is a limit to how long people will tolerate restrictions, especially if they seemed illogical.He urged an "overriding principle...that we will only maintain those restrictions which are necessary and if there is a question over whether something is necessary or not, I think we should err on the side of openness and trying to make sure that more people can get on with their lives and more people can get on with getting back to their jobs".