The UK opposition leader has this evening called for a second, nationwide lockdown. As the number of infections for Covid-19 continues to climb, it is perhaps time to evaluate what is going wrong, and what is going right.
There are four positives. First, as this morning’s ONS report shows, vacancies for smaller companies rebounded quickly over the summer. Hiring in UK tech is back to pre-pandemic levels. Second, the UK trade balance has improved sharply this year. The third positive is the resilience of housing and construction. The fourth piece of good news is the determination of Boris Johnson to push ahead with green energy policies.
However, the prime minister is not winning many plaudits for his handling of Covid-19. Reports of free ICU beds dwindling in Liverpool have raised the alarm: the second wave could lead to more hospitalisations than ‘round one’.
Notwithstanding the proliferation of start-ups, the UK is a laggard in technology. It tried to mirror the more successful containment policies of China and other Asian countries (notably South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and China). But the UK simply does not have the technological capability. Scientists advising Boris Johnson on the pandemic have delivered a critical assessment of the government’s ‘world-beating’ test-and-trace system: it had only a “marginal impact” on containing Covid-19. It is time to let big (US) tech into public services, to drive up performance, critics warn.
Summary
• Four positives for the UK economy
• The long cycle for Knowsley, a warning
• Unleash big (US) tech on public services
