Saturday 29 August 2020

Paralysed by paranoia: ROBERT HARDMAN says the scariest part of ghost town Britain are the irrational fears killing the nation's economic recovery

 Daily Mail

And therein lies the challenge confronting the Government and the entire British economy: how do you get a nervous workforce to take that initial leap of faith? No one likes to say it, let alone admit it. But the greatest obstacle to economic revival right now, quite simply, is fear itself.  ......

And that is why the Government has to be clear and forceful. As the former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith warned this week, Britain is 'in the foothills of economic Armageddon'. His fellow senior Tory, Sir Graham Brady, was in no doubt: 'We have to stop the mixed messaging and send out a clear signal that it is safe to go back to work.' That means leading by example. And right now, the state is doing nothing of the sort. The vast ministries around Whitehall lie virtually empty while public servants — for whom wage cuts and furlough schemes are an alien concept — insist they are 'delivering' from their sofas. If they won't take the plunge, why should anyone else?"


No comments: