The Government must use insights7 Jun 2020 09:54
Jobs bloodbath accelerates easing of lockdown for pubs, restaurants and weddings
Outdoor eating, drinking and marriage ceremonies in government plan to stave off ‘Jobocalypse Now’
June 6 2020, The Sunday Times
Boris Johnson has ordered ministers to lift the lockdown quickly to avoid the possible loss of three million jobs.
In a significant shift in the government’s approach to Covid-19, the prime minister signed off new measures to open up the economy at a meeting with Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, on Friday night.
Johnson stepped in after a crunch meeting on Tuesday where he was warned by Alok Sharma, the business secretary, that failure to reopen the hospitality sector in time for the summer could cost up to 3.5 million jobs. Johnson replied: “Christ!”
Under plans for the easing of lockdown rules to be unveiled this week:
? Planning controls will be relaxed to enable pubs, cafés and restaurants to use outside areas
? Restrictions on weddings and funerals will go, enabling up to 10 people to attend indoors from early July
? In a potentially historic change, Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, is also writing legislation to permit outdoor weddings, currently limited to Jews and Quakers
? Places of worship will reopen on June 15 for private prayer, the same day as non-essential shops
? Possible measures to allow hairdressers to reopen before July 4
? Johnson has told Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, to secure “travel corridor” deals with holiday hotspots by June 28
? Shapps is also working on new rules to allow driving instructors back to work.
The fears of what one insider called “Jobocalypse Now” have led the prime minister to task a small group of ministers — dubbed the “Save Summer Six” — to draw up measures to return Britain to something like normal life by July.
The move is a high-risk gamble, since scientists are warning that the R rate at which the coronavirus is spread is close to the danger level of one, and above it in northeast England and the southwest.
Johnson also wants the government to cut social distancing from two metres to one, if scientific evidence can be found to justify the move. The plan is seen by the six ministers — Sunak, Sharma, Michael Gove, Jenrick, Shapps and Oliver Dowden — as the key to opening up businesses, schools and public transport. It is also backed by Gavin Williamson, the education secretary.
This weekend, Sharma is due to talk to his Dutch and Danish counterparts about how they shifted to one metre, the minimum distance recommended by the World Health Organisation.
One cabinet minister described the changes to lockdown as “long overdue” and said: “It’s right that the emphasis has shifted to the economic side and a return to normal life.”
Downing Street will stress that changes will be in line with scientific advice, and it will leave open the prospect of reimposing some measures in areas where the virus is accelerating.
But a senior source confirmed: “Boris wants us back t