Chancellor Rishi Sunak needs to act today as coronavirus has put the economy into total meltdown
Help us NOW
UNTIL now Chancellor Rishi Sunak hasn’t put a foot wrong. But his delay over bailing out Britain’s workers with hard cash is terrifying millions of people.
Some have already lost their jobs. Others must now give theirs up to look after their kids, with schools closing.
It may be hard for politicians to grasp, but many ordinary people have no savings to tide them over.
They are broke NOW. They need to feed themselves and their families NOW.
Not at the weekend. Not next week.
Even those not yet made redundant by this global economic collapse are petrified about how bad this could get.
The pub industry alone says hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost imminently without immediate help.
Other governments have stepped in. Why has ours been so slow?
Devising a new system to get tens of billions in lost wages into the right hands is complex. We get that.
We also think the “universal income” idea is an ill-considered and permanently ruinous fix.
But promises, and a temporary ban on evicting renters, won’t quell the fear.
This virus is not the fault of the workers, nor the Government whose draconian restrictions are sound.
But with the economy in total meltdown, only the Government now can get Britain paid.
Do it today, Rishi.
Class dismissed
CLOSING schools was grimly inevitable but right. It always seemed odd to keep them open while telling everyone to stay home.
The Government must fulfil its pledge to ensure kids on free school meals are fully funded to get fed.
We pay tribute to the NHS staff, delivery drivers and social carers whose often low-paid work is so essential that their children WILL still be looked after in school.
And our hearts go out to the teenagers whose GCSEs and A-levels will be postponed indefinitely.
This is an unprecedented nightmare, blighting their childhoods.
We can only help each other endure it.
Viral lies online
IMAGINE the evil of using a deadly pandemic to spread fake news furthering your political or commercial agenda.
It should no longer shock us after the Salisbury poisonings.
But Kremlin trolls are sowing panic online to undermine the West’s Covid-19 strategies.
Let’s remember that, next time our leaders have to make nice with Putin at the G20.
Meanwhile, conspiracy cranks say hand sanitiser causes cancer — and charlatans claim their “yoghurt suppositories” or vitamin pills “cure” the virus.
Where do they do this with near impunity? That’s right . . .
On Facebook, which talks such a good game about policing its site — but is always found wanting.
- GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk