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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has ruled out any possibility of a quicker end to the lockdown, telling Sky News that the last thing companies needed was a “stop, start” return to normal life.
Sunak told Sophy Ridge on Sunday that the roadmap the prime minister had established was the correct “cautious but irreversible approach.”
But he added there was “a sense of confidence and optimism about the future.”
When asked if, if the data were better than expected, the prime minister’s roadmap could happen faster, he said: “What we want is a cautious but irreversible approach.
“Those will be the earliest dates that we think we can do the various things that we have set.
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“But we are doing everything we can to make sure that hopefully it’s irreversible, that’s what we want to see.”
He added: “What companies do not want is a start and stop approach to this, we want to know that it is a one-way road and that is why it is cautious.”
“We have given the earliest dates to give a sense of opportunity and a sense of direction and then obviously we might have to adjust them if things are not going exactly the way we would like, but look, the early signs are promising.”
His comments came after I also assured him that do “whatever it takes” to support businesses and families on the rise of the confinement.
The pubs, restaurants, shops and other businesses hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic will be fueled by a £ 5bn grant scheme to help them reopen as the closure eases.
Sunak is expected to detail “reset grants”, worth up to £ 6,000 per location, to help non-essential retailers reopen and trade safely within their budget on Wednesday.
And his optimistic messages continued.
He continued: “We are seeing great news with the launch of the vaccine, not only the adoption of it, but also the efficacy of the vaccine.
“The data that we’re getting shows us that it’s working, so I think that should give us all a sense of confidence and optimism about the future, that we can move forward on the roadmap and hopefully slowly get our lives back to normal. . “
