Labour calls on Chancellor to stop pitting the economy against
public health as “false choice” leaves UK with the worst of both
worlds
In a speech to the London School of Economics and Political
Science today (Thursday 21 January), Labour’s Shadow Chancellor
will
criticise her opposite number for pitting public health against the economy and
calling the Covid-19 crisis “wrong time and again.”
She will argue that Sunak and the Conservative Government have
set up a “false choice” between health and the economy that has
left the UK with the worst of both worlds: the worst recession of
any major economy and the worst Covid-19 death toll in Europe.
Citing the Chancellor’s attempts to block public health measures
and roll economic support back in the face of scientific advice,
she will argue that this stop-start approach since last summer
has done “untold harm” to jobs and businesses and damaged public
confidence in the economy.
She will also take aim at the failure across Government to put in
place a clear framework for economic support and to establish an
effective Test, Trace and Isolate system to manage social
distancing in a way that protects both the economy and public
health over the long term.
Calling for an urgent change of mind-set in the Treasury, Dodds
argues urgent action is needed to secure our economy, protect our
NHS and rebuild our country. Her demands include:
- Economic support that goes hand in hand with health
restrictions.
To manage social distancing in a way that protects the NHS and
secures our economy.
- Better communication of the Test and Trace Support
Payment.
To drive up self-isolation rates and save our economy the costs
of infection spreading when people don't self-isolate by
ensuring everyone who qualifies knows they can receive the
payment.
- Action to ensure local authorities can properly support the
Test and Trace Support Payment.
To end the postcode lottery that has led to radically different
approaches have been taken across the country with a single,
clear set of guidelines and predictable funding for the
discretionary payment for local authorities.
On the “false choice” between health and the economy,
Dodds will say:
“At the heart of the Conservative government’s mishandling of
this crisis over the last ten months has been an insistence that
you can treat the health of a nation and its economy as distinct
entities, to be traded off against one another. You either
‘choose health,’ and lock down the economy completely in a bid to
prevent the virus from spreading. Or you ‘choose jobs,’ easing
restrictions as rapidly as you are able to get people back to
work. This narrative is not only untrue; it is self-defeating.”
On the Chancellor’s mistakes, she will say:
“The Chancellor has called this crisis wrong time and again. From
a succession of winter economic plans that had to be continually
revised because each iteration sought to give the bare minimum in
economic support and then was overtaken by events; to
disappearing altogether over Christmas only to return earlier
this month with almost nothing new to say and precious little
clarity for businesses as to what they can expect in the months
to come. Much of this seems to stem from a belief that the
economy is only well-served by a total lifting of restrictions
and a removal of all economic support as soon as possible. But
with the virus sadly still with us and continuing to impact on
demand, he needs to think again.”
On the need for managed social distancing, Dodds is
expected to say:
“There has to be another way. And this is to accept that, while
it has obviously been hugely disruptive, managed social
distancing has unfortunately been necessary. It has reduced the
transmission of the virus and kept it under control – preventing
the NHS from being overwhelmed – and avoided the stop-start
nature of repeated lockdowns that causes so much economic harm.”
“Managed social distancing requires government intervention to
work: a set of rules for everyone to observe, and economic
support for affected businesses and workers while those rules are
in place. The same is true of self-isolation: people need clarity
over when and how to self-isolate, and they must be enabled to do
so without falling into debt.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
- Labour’s Shadow Chancellor will
deliver a lecture entitled ‘Rebuilding the UK Economy for a
More Secure Future’ hosted by the Department of Government at
the London School of Economics and Political Science on
Thursday 21 January 2021 1:00pm to 2:00pm.
