conservativehome--2020-03-20--Iain Dale: The moment when the virus became real to me

Iain Dale presents the evening show on LBC Radio and is a commentator for CNN .
I suspect politics won ’ t return to normal for many months .
But what is normal ?
Wartime analogies can seem tiresome in situations like this , but the measures which the government is taking , and will take , were not even deployed in the Second World War .
Schools remained open .
There was freedom of association .
These really are unprecedented times .
And we haven ’ t even reached anywhere near the peak of this crisis .
That probably @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even June .
The scale of the economic crisis is starting to become apparent .
Perfectly viable companies are losing 80 per cent , 90 per cent or even 100 per cent of their income .
Even the most successful companies can not operate without positive cashflow .
In our just-in-time economy , most will run out of cash within four weeks .
The Government ’ s £330 billion package including a major loan scheme is good , but it only goes so far .
Expect a lot more announcements .
We are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economy within a very short time – and for a temporary universal basic income scheme .
We ’ re heading for a quasi-authoritarian state in which civil liberties will inevitably take second place .
Government can only do so much , and there will be a massive conflict between those who expect the Government to do everything and those who recognise that this is just not possible .
The media will have choices to make between covering any poor soul who blames the Government for the fact that a close relative has died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impossible choices are going to have to be made .
We will experience the “ Why oh why oh why ?
” and “ Something must be done ” brigades in full flow .
I hope the media give them a wide berth .
I have never been in favour of a Universal Basic Income , but I think this is something that must be looked at now , on a temporary basis .
Some households are going to be severely affected within a very short time .
A payment of say , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would cost in the region of £28 billion .
It ’ s a massive amount of money , but could be recouped over time when things revert back to normal .
I have no idea how easy it would be to administer , but I ’ d have thought it could be implemented by local authorities who hold all the records of properties in their areas .
OK , it seems ridiculous that people at the top of the income scale should get the money too , but people who don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to donate it to food banks or charities .
Ease and speed of administration are the key things here .
Last week , I wrote about the moment Coronavirus became real to me .
It was when someone I knew got it .
That person was Nadine Dorries , who is thankfully well on the road to recovery .
Half an hour ago I learned that my dear friend Theo Usherwood , LBC ’ s Political Editor , is in hospital with pneumonia , and suspected of having Covid-19 .
I knew he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extent .
I don ’ t know if my reaction to learning this was typical or not , but I am feeling very emotional and somewhat tearful .
Theo is 35 .
He ’ s fit .
He ’ s not in a high risk category .
I ’ m 57 and in a high-risk category and very unfit .
That ’ s why I took the decision earlier in the week not to travel to London again until all this is over .
Since Tuesday , the only time I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dogs .
All I can do is minimise the risk to myself and therefore others by keeping myself to myself .
This means since Tuesday I ’ ve been broadcasting my radio show from home .
LBC and Global Radio have encouraged as many of their staff to work from him , with only broadcast essential staff remaining in our Leicester Square headquarters .
It ’ s a very odd experience broadcasting from one ’ s boudoir !
I have to do it from that room as it ’ s the only one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I did it in a room with floorboards , it would be very echoey .
I ’ m doing it all via my laptop and IPDTL technology plus a rather special microphone .
I was worried about the broadband dropping out occasionally , but so far , so good .

Iain Dale presents the evening show on LBC Radio and is a commentator for CNN.
I suspect politics won’t return to normal for many months. But what is normal? Wartime analogies can seem tiresome in situations like this, but the measures which the government is taking, and will take, were not even deployed in the Second World War.
Schools remained open. There was freedom of association. These really are unprecedented times. And we haven’t even reached anywhere near the peak of this crisis. That probably won’t come until May or even June.
The scale of the economic crisis is starting to become apparent. Perfectly viable companies are losing 80 per cent, 90 per cent or even 100 per cent of their income. Even the most successful companies cannot operate without positive cashflow. In our just-in-time economy, most will run out of cash within four weeks.
The Government’s £330 billion package including a major loan scheme is good, but it only goes so far. Expect a lot more announcements. We are heading for a full-scale command and control economy within a very short time – and for a temporary universal basic income scheme.
We’re heading for a quasi-authoritarian state in which civil liberties will inevitably take second place. Government can only do so much, and there will be a massive conflict between those who expect the Government to do everything and those who recognise that this is just not possible.
The media will have choices to make between covering any poor soul who blames the Government for the fact that a close relative has died, and being responsible and recognising that impossible choices are going to have to be made. We will experience the “Why oh why oh why?” and “Something must be done” brigades in full flow. I hope the media give them a wide berth.
– – – – – – – – – –
I have never been in favour of a Universal Basic Income, but I think this is something that must be looked at now, on a temporary basis.
Some households are going to be severely affected within a very short time. A payment of say, £1000 to each household in the country would cost in the region of £28 billion. It’s a massive amount of money, but could be recouped over time when things revert back to normal.
I have no idea how easy it would be to administer, but I’d have thought it could be implemented by local authorities who hold all the records of properties in their areas.
OK, it seems ridiculous that people at the top of the income scale should get the money too, but people who don’t actually need the money could be encouraged to donate it to food banks or charities. Ease and speed of administration are the key things here.
– – – – – – – – – –
Last week, I wrote about the moment Coronavirus became real to me. It was when someone I knew got it.
That person was Nadine Dorries, who is thankfully well on the road to recovery. Half an hour ago I learned that my dear friend Theo Usherwood, LBC’s Political Editor, is in hospital with pneumonia, and suspected of having Covid-19. I knew he was ill, but not to that extent.
I don’t know if my reaction to learning this was typical or not, but I am feeling very emotional and somewhat tearful. Theo is 35. He’s fit. He’s not in a high risk category. I’m 57 and in a high-risk category and very unfit.
That’s why I took the decision earlier in the week not to travel to London again until all this is over. Since Tuesday, the only time I’ve left the house is to walk the dogs. All I can do is minimise the risk to myself and therefore others by keeping myself to myself.
This means since Tuesday I’ve been broadcasting my radio show from home. LBC and Global Radio have encouraged as many of their staff to work from him, with only broadcast essential staff remaining in our Leicester Square headquarters.
It’s a very odd experience broadcasting from one’s boudoir! I have to do it from that room as it’s the only one in the house with carpet. If I did it in a room with floorboards, it would be very echoey.
I’m doing it all via my laptop and IPDTL technology plus a rather special microphone. I was worried about the broadband dropping out occasionally, but so far, so good.


conservativehome--2020-03-20--Teresa O’Neill: In Bexley, we have launched a volunteers hub to help get through the crisis

Cllr Teresa O ’ Neill is the Leader of Bexley Council .
Like everywhere else , the impact of COVID-19 on Local Government is hard .
In Bexley , we ’ ve had to work quickly to ensure we are focused on maintaining key services to those most in need , as well as do all we can to ensure the health of our staff and Councillors .
It ’ s a fast-moving situation but our staff have been brilliant , working round the clock to put a plan in place , especially with things changing almost hour to hour @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not unexpected – that Bexley ’ s residents are all playing their part .
Our borough has a large elderly population , and while many are healthy and in good shape , many will need to self-isolate .
It ’ s important to try and co-ordinate all the offers of help where we can .
On Wednesday we launched a volunteers hub , where people who are working at home or have the time , can sign up to offer their time to assist others .
This could be collecting and delivering shopping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents to check they are okay , and to just talk .
The number of people who have already pledged their support is amazing , but entirely typical of Bexley ’ s community spirit and long-standing commitment to helping each other .
Councillors have a role to play too .
Like many other councils , we ’ ve cancelled meetings for the next few weeks both to free up staff to focus on helping residents and also to limit the number of people at meetings together , but the role of a local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could not be clearer at times like this .
Many councillors are out and about in their wards , checking on vulnerable residents , ensuring a constant supply of information to people .
This is being done across parties and indeed I have been talking with the Leader of the Labour Group to co-ordinate the work going on and plan the help needed across the Borough .
So , in the face of this unprecedented situation , everyone – Council staff , councillors , residents , businesses – are all working together in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ community can achieve and how we can collectively make things happen .
As they say , in Bexley , we ’ re keeping calm and carrying on , making sure those who need help , get it .

Cllr Teresa O’Neill is the Leader of Bexley Council.
Like everywhere else, the impact of COVID-19 on Local Government is hard.
In Bexley, we’ve had to work quickly to ensure we are focused on maintaining key services to those most in need, as well as do all we can to ensure the health of our staff and Councillors.
It’s a fast-moving situation but our staff have been brilliant, working round the clock to put a plan in place, especially with things changing almost hour to hour.
It is also heartening – but not unexpected – that Bexley’s residents are all playing their part.
Our borough has a large elderly population, and while many are healthy and in good shape, many will need to self-isolate. It’s important to try and co-ordinate all the offers of help where we can.
On Wednesday we launched a volunteers hub, where people who are working at home or have the time, can sign up to offer their time to assist others. This could be collecting and delivering shopping, or making phone calls to lonely residents to check they are okay, and to just talk.
The number of people who have already pledged their support is amazing, but entirely typical of Bexley’s community spirit and long-standing commitment to helping each other.
Councillors have a role to play too. Like many other councils, we’ve cancelled meetings for the next few weeks both to free up staff to focus on helping residents and also to limit the number of people at meetings together, but the role of a local councillor working in and for their community could not be clearer at times like this.
Many councillors are out and about in their wards, checking on vulnerable residents, ensuring a constant supply of information to people.
This is being done across parties and indeed I have been talking with the Leader of the Labour Group to co-ordinate the work going on and plan the help needed across the Borough.
So, in the face of this unprecedented situation, everyone – Council staff, councillors, residents, businesses – are all working together in partnership. It shows what a strong community can achieve and how we can collectively make things happen.
As they say, in Bexley, we’re keeping calm and carrying on, making sure those who need help, get it.


conservativehome--2020-03-20--“A combination of measures unprecedented for a government of this nation.” The Chancellor’s statemen

“A combination of measures unprecedented for a government of this nation.” The Chancellor’s statement: full text.

The economic intervention that I ’ m announcing today is unprecedented in the history of the British state .
Combined with our previous announcements on public services and business support , our planned economic response will be one of the most comprehensive in the world .
Let me speak directly to people ’ s concerns .
I know that people are worried about losing their jobs .
About not being able to pay the rent or the mortgage .
About not having enough set by for food and bills .
I know that some people in the last few days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all those at home right now , anxious about the days ahead , I say this : you will not face this alone .
But getting through this will require a collective national effort , with a role for everyone to play – people , businesses and government .
It ’ s on all of us .
To meet our commitment to that effort , I am today announcing a combination of measures unprecedented for a government of this nation .
Our Plan for People ’ s Jobs and Incomes , will : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are without employment .
• Strengthen the safety net for those who work for themselves .
• And help people who stay in their homes .
The first part of our plan is to protect people ’ s jobs .
This week , the Government has taken unprecedented steps to fight the coronavirus .
We have closed schools .
We have told people to stay at home to prevent the spread of infection .
We are now closing restaurants and bars .
Those steps are necessary to save lives .
But we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we know those measures will have a significant economic impact .
I have a responsibility to make sure we protect , as far as possible , people ’ s jobs and incomes .
Today I can announce that , for the first time in our history , the government is going to step in and help to pay people ’ s wages .
Any employer in the country – small or large , charitable or non-profit – will be eligible for the scheme .
Employers will be able to contact HMRC for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of people who are not working but are furloughed and kept on payroll , rather than being laid off .
Government grants will cover 80 % of the salary of retained workers up to a total of £2,500 a month – that ’ s above the median income .
And , of course , employers can top up salaries further if they choose to .
That means workers in any part of the UK can retain their job , even if their employer can not afford to pay them , and be paid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will cover the cost of wages backdated to March 1st and will be open initially for at least three months – and I will extend the scheme for longer if necessary .
I am placing no limit on the amount of funding available for the scheme .
We will pay grants to support as many jobs as necessary .
And can I put on record my thanks to the Trades Union Congress , the CBI and other business groups , for our constructive conversations .
We said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people – and we meant it .
We have never had a scheme in our country like this before – and we ’ re having to build our systems from scratch .
I can assure you that HMRC are working night and day to get the scheme up and running and we expect the first grants to be paid within weeks – and we ’ re aiming to get it done before the end of April .
But I know that many businesses are hurting now .
I have already taken extraordinary measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through loans , grants and guarantees .
I can announce today that the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme will not be interest free , as previously planned , for 6 months – it will now be interest free for twelve months .
Thanks to the enormous efforts of our critical financial services sector , those loans will now be available starting on Monday .
And I will announce further measures next week , on top of those the Governor and I have already taken to ensure that larger and medium sized companies can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m also announcing today further cash flow support through the tax system .
To help businesses pay people and keep them in work , I am deferring the next quarter of VAT payments .
That means no business will pay any from now until the end of June ; and you will have until the end of the financial year to repay those bills .
That is a direct injection of £30bn of cash to employers , equivalent to 1.5 % of GDP .
Let me speak directly to businesses .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ We in government are doing everything we can to support you .
We ’ re paying people ’ s wages up to 80 % so someone can be furloughed rather than laid off to protect their jobs .
We ’ re deferring £30bn of taxes until the end of the financial year .
We ’ re abolishing business rates altogether this year if you are in hospitality , retail and leisure .
The Government is doing its best to stand behind you – and I am asking you to do your best , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re launching in the coming days a major national advertising campaign to communicate the available support for businesses and people .
Please look very carefully at that support before making decisions to lay people off .
It ’ s on all of us .
We are starting a great national effort to protect jobs .
But the truth is we are already seeing job losses .
And there may be more to come .
I can not promise you that no one will face hardship in the weeks ahead .
So we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the worst happens .
To strengthen the safety net , I ’ m increasing today the Universal Credit standard allowance , for the next 12 months , by £1,000 a year .
For the next twelve months , I ’ m increasing the Working Tax Credit basic element by the same amount as well .
Together these measures will benefit over 4 million of our most vulnerable households .
And I ’ m strengthening the safety net for self-employed people too , by suspending the minimum income floor for everyone affected by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every self-employed person can now access , in full , Universal Credit at a rate equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay for employees .
Taken together , I ’ m announcing nearly £7bn of extra support through the welfare system to strengthen the safety net and protect people ’ s incomes .
And to support the self-employed through the tax system , I ’ m announcing today that the next self-assessment payments will be deferred until January 2021 .
As well as keeping people in work and supporting those who lose their jobs or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jobs and Incomes will help keep a roof over your head .
We ’ ve acted already to make sure homeowners can get a three-month mortgage holiday if they need it .
I ’ m announcing today nearly £1bn of support for renters , by increasing the generosity of housing benefit and Universal Credit , so that the Local Housing Allowance will cover at least 30 % of market rents in your area .
The actions I have taken today represent an unprecedented economic intervention to support the jobs and incomes of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one final observation .
Now , more than any time in our recent history , we will be judged by our capacity for compassion .
Our ability to come through this , won ’ t just be down to what government or business can do , but by the individual acts of kindness we show one another .
The small business who does everything they can not to lay off their staff .
The student who does a shop for their elderly neighbour .
The retired nurse who volunteers to cover some shifts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is over , and it will be over , we want to look back at this moment and remember the many small acts of kindness done by us and to us .
We want to look back this time and remember how we thought first of others and acted with decency .
We want to look back on this time and remember how , in the face of a generation-defining moment , we undertook a collective national effort – and we stood together .
It ’ s on all of us .

“Good afternoon.
The economic intervention that I’m announcing today is unprecedented in the history of the British state.
Combined with our previous announcements on public services and business support, our planned economic response will be one of the most comprehensive in the world.
Let me speak directly to people’s concerns.
I know that people are worried about losing their jobs.
About not being able to pay the rent or the mortgage.
About not having enough set by for food and bills.
I know that some people in the last few days have already lost their jobs.
To all those at home right now, anxious about the days ahead, I say this: you will not face this alone.
But getting through this will require a collective national effort, with a role for everyone to play – people, businesses and government.
It’s on all of us.
To meet our commitment to that effort, I am today announcing a combination of measures unprecedented for a government of this nation.
Our Plan for People’s Jobs and Incomes, will:
Protect people’s jobs.
Offer more generous support to those who are without employment.
Strengthen the safety net for those who work for themselves.
And help people who stay in their homes.
The first part of our plan is to protect people’s jobs.
This week, the Government has taken unprecedented steps to fight the coronavirus.
We have closed schools. We have told people to stay at home to prevent the spread of infection. We are now closing restaurants and bars.
Those steps are necessary to save lives.
But we don’t do this lightly – we know those measures will have a significant economic impact.
I have a responsibility to make sure we protect, as far as possible, people’s jobs and incomes.
Today I can announce that, for the first time in our history, the government is going to step in and help to pay people’s wages.
We’re setting up a new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Any employer in the country – small or large, charitable or non-profit – will be eligible for the scheme.
Employers will be able to contact HMRC for a grant to cover most of the wages of people who are not working but are furloughed and kept on payroll, rather than being laid off.
Government grants will cover 80% of the salary of retained workers up to a total of £2,500 a month – that’s above the median income.
And, of course, employers can top up salaries further if they choose to.
That means workers in any part of the UK can retain their job, even if their employer cannot afford to pay them, and be paid at least 80% of their salary.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will cover the cost of wages backdated to March 1st and will be open initially for at least three months – and I will extend the scheme for longer if necessary.
I am placing no limit on the amount of funding available for the scheme. We will pay grants to support as many jobs as necessary.
And can I put on record my thanks to the Trades Union Congress, the CBI and other business groups, for our constructive conversations.
We said we would stand together with the British people – and we meant it.
We have never had a scheme in our country like this before – and we’re having to build our systems from scratch.
I can assure you that HMRC are working night and day to get the scheme up and running and we expect the first grants to be paid within weeks – and we’re aiming to get it done before the end of April.
But I know that many businesses are hurting now.
I have already taken extraordinary measures to make cash available to businesses, through loans, grants and guarantees.
I can announce today that the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme will not be interest free, as previously planned, for 6 months – it will now be interest free for twelve months.
Thanks to the enormous efforts of our critical financial services sector, those loans will now be available starting on Monday.
And I will announce further measures next week, on top of those the Governor and I have already taken to ensure that larger and medium sized companies can also access the credit they need.
I’m also announcing today further cash flow support through the tax system.
To help businesses pay people and keep them in work, I am deferring the next quarter of VAT payments.
That means no business will pay any from now until the end of June; and you will have until the end of the financial year to repay those bills.
That is a direct injection of £30bn of cash to employers, equivalent to 1.5% of GDP.
Let me speak directly to businesses.
I know its tough out there.
We in government are doing everything we can to support you.
We’re paying people’s wages up to 80% so someone can be furloughed rather than laid off to protect their jobs.
We’re deferring £30bn of taxes until the end of the financial year.
We’re lending unlimited sums of money interest free for 12 months.
We’re abolishing business rates altogether this year if you are in hospitality, retail and leisure.
We’re providing cash grants of £25,000 for small business properties.
The Government is doing its best to stand behind you – and I am asking you to do your best, to stand behind our workers.
We’re launching in the coming days a major national advertising campaign to communicate the available support for businesses and people.
Please look very carefully at that support before making decisions to lay people off.
It’s on all of us.
We are starting a great national effort to protect jobs. But the truth is we are already seeing job losses. And there may be more to come.
I cannot promise you that no one will face hardship in the weeks ahead.
So we will also act to protect you if the worst happens.
To strengthen the safety net, I’m increasing today the Universal Credit standard allowance, for the next 12 months, by £1,000 a year.
For the next twelve months, I’m increasing the Working Tax Credit basic element by the same amount as well.
Together these measures will benefit over 4 million of our most vulnerable households.
And I’m strengthening the safety net for self-employed people too, by suspending the minimum income floor for everyone affected by the economic impacts of coronavirus.
That means every self-employed person can now access, in full, Universal Credit at a rate equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay for employees.
Taken together, I’m announcing nearly £7bn of extra support through the welfare system to strengthen the safety net and protect people’s incomes.
And to support the self-employed through the tax system, I’m announcing today that the next self-assessment payments will be deferred until January 2021.
As well as keeping people in work and supporting those who lose their jobs or work for themselves, our Plan for Jobs and Incomes will help keep a roof over your head.
We’ve acted already to make sure homeowners can get a three-month mortgage holiday if they need it.
I’m announcing today nearly £1bn of support for renters, by increasing the generosity of housing benefit and Universal Credit, so that the Local Housing Allowance will cover at least 30% of market rents in your area.
The actions I have taken today represent an unprecedented economic intervention to support the jobs and incomes of the British people.
A new, comprehensive job retention scheme.
And a significantly strengthened safety net.
Unprecedented measures, for unprecedented times.
Let me close with one final observation.
Now, more than any time in our recent history, we will be judged by our capacity for compassion.
Our ability to come through this,won’t just be down to what government or business can do, but by the individual acts of kindness we show one another.
The small business who does everything they can not to lay off their staff.
The student who does a shop for their elderly neighbour.
The retired nurse who volunteers to cover some shifts in their local hospital.
When this is over, and it will be over, we want to look back at this moment and remember the many small acts of kindness done by us and to us.
We want to look back this time and remember how we thought first of others and acted with decency.
We want to look back on this time and remember how, in the face of a generation-defining moment, we undertook a collective national effort – and we stood together.
It’s on all of us.
Thank you.”


conservativehome--2020-03-20--Can Lewis really deliver equal and proper protection for veterans of the Northern Irish campaign?

Although the fight against COVID-19 is at the front of everyone ’ s mind , it hasn ’ t ( yet ) squeezed everything else off the agenda and yesterday ’ s papers reported apparent progress on the thorny issue of Northern Irish veterans .
“ Hundreds of ageing Northern Ireland veterans are to be given legal promises that they will never be pursued through the courts again ” , according to the Sun .
The spur for this was a written ministerial statement given by Brandon Lewis , the Northern Ireland Secretary , in response to the first reading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Veterans ) Bill on Wednesday , in which he wrote of “ ensuring equal treatment of Northern Ireland veterans and those who served overseas.
” Under the terms of the Bill , which is intended to end ‘ vexatious ’ prosecutions of British troops , there will be a five-year time limit on prosecutions against those who have served on operations overseas .
Exceptions will be made where “ new and compelling evidence ” is brought forward , and prosecutions will need sign-off from the Attorney General .
Tory MPs report having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fact that it appears to exclude alleged sexual offences from the limit – which could allow those wishing to wage ‘ lawfare ’ against the Armed Forces to do so simply by changing the nature of their allegations – but especially that it excludes from protection those ex-servicemen who have served on operations on British soil .
The Northern Ireland Office is going to bring forward its own legislation , but campaigners have been deeply concerned that deeply entrenched institutional attitudes there ( which have long been a point of complaint for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extend proper and equal legal protection to veterans of the campaign in Ulster .
On the face of it , Lewis ’ s assurances mean that such men will receive identical legal protection to their comrades who fought in Iraq , Afghanistan , and elsewhere , although until we have sight of the draft legislation we have no way to be sure .
It also remains to be seen whether Lewis will try to incorporate some of the suggestions made by John Larkin QC , the current Attorney General for Northern Ireland , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Policy Exchange .
But MPs are taking nothing for granted .
Mark Francois , the deputy chairman of the Veterans Support Group in Parliament , told us : “ The new bill is welcome in that in principle it helps provide protection against vexatious prosecutions for Veterans who served overseas .
But the comparable bill for Northern Ireland Veterans has not even been drafted yet .
Brandon Lewis ’ s written ministerial statement says that Northern Ireland Veterans will get “ equal treatment ” to those who served overseas , and I and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this promise is upheld.
” Another lacuna in this cross-departmental approach is that support and protections provided to former soldiers are very often not being offered to former officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary , the civilian force which served as the first line of defence against both republican and loyalist terror .
Both Lewis and Ben Wallace , his counterpart at the Ministry of Defence , would do well to try and prevail upon Priti Patel to bring the Home Office into line with the Government ’ s strong public line on @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Although the fight against COVID-19 is at the front of everyone’s mind, it hasn’t (yet) squeezed everything else off the agenda and yesterday’s papers reported apparent progress on the thorny issue of Northern Irish veterans.
“Hundreds of ageing Northern Ireland veterans are to be given legal promises that they will never be pursued through the courts again”, according to the Sun.
The spur for this was a written ministerial statement given by Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, in response to the first reading of the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill on Wednesday, in which he wrote of “ensuring equal treatment of Northern Ireland veterans and those who served overseas.”
Under the terms of the Bill, which is intended to end ‘vexatious’ prosecutions of British troops, there will be a five-year time limit on prosecutions against those who have served on operations overseas. Exceptions will be made where “new and compelling evidence” is brought forward, and prosecutions will need sign-off from the Attorney General.
Tory MPs report having some reservations about legislation. These include the fact that it appears to exclude alleged sexual offences from the limit – which could allow those wishing to wage ‘lawfare’ against the Armed Forces to do so simply by changing the nature of their allegations – but especially that it excludes from protection those ex-servicemen who have served on operations on British soil.
The Northern Ireland Office is going to bring forward its own legislation, but campaigners have been deeply concerned that deeply entrenched institutional attitudes there (which have long been a point of complaint for unionists) will undermine any effort to extend proper and equal legal protection to veterans of the campaign in Ulster.
On the face of it, Lewis’s assurances mean that such men will receive identical legal protection to their comrades who fought in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, although until we have sight of the draft legislation we have no way to be sure. It also remains to be seen whether Lewis will try to incorporate some of the suggestions made by John Larkin QC, the current Attorney General for Northern Ireland, in a recent speech at the think-tank Policy Exchange.
But MPs are taking nothing for granted. Mark Francois, the deputy chairman of the Veterans Support Group in Parliament, told us:
“The new bill is welcome in that in principle it helps provide protection against vexatious prosecutions for Veterans who served overseas. But the comparable bill for Northern Ireland Veterans has not even been drafted yet. Brandon Lewis’s written ministerial statement says that Northern Ireland Veterans will get “equal treatment” to those who served overseas, and I and my colleagues will remain vigilant to ensure this promise is upheld.”
Another lacuna in this cross-departmental approach is that support and protections provided to former soldiers are very often not being offered to former officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the civilian force which served as the first line of defence against both republican and loyalist terror. Both Lewis and Ben Wallace, his counterpart at the Ministry of Defence, would do well to try and prevail upon Priti Patel to bring the Home Office into line with the Government’s strong public line on defending those who defended the State.


conservativehome--2020-03-20--Council by-election result from yesterday

Labour 639 ( 52.8 per cent , -8.4 on 2018 ) Conservatives 350 ( 28.9 per cent , +4.8 ) @ @ @ @ @ per cent , +1.6 ) Socialist Alternative 101 ( 8.3 per cent , +8.3 ) @ @ @ @ @ this week .
All the others were psotponed .
I understand that all the Council @ @ @ @ @ for coming weeks have been postponed .

Coventry – Upper Stoke
Labour 639 (52.8 per cent, -8.4 on 2018) Conservatives 350 (28.9 per cent, +4.8) Green Party 120 (9.9 per cent, +1.6) Socialist Alternative 101 (8.3 per cent, +8.3)
Labour hold
This was the only contest this week. All the others were psotponed.
I understand that all the Council by-elections that had been scheduled for coming weeks have been postponed.


Coronavirus Count

Total number of cases in the UK : 3,983 ( Up from 3,269 at the last count on this site ) .
Daily confirmed cases : 714 ( The figure on Friday at 9am was 643 ) .
From the Government ’ s website Number of coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) cases and risk in the UK .
Total UK cases COVID-19 Cases Update .
The above are figures for England .
“ The risk to the UK has been raised to high ” – From the Government ’ s website Number of coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) cases and risk in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ON WHAT AND HOW THEY CAN CLAIM NEW See here .
Published on Friday March 20 .
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON WHAT THE CORONAVIRUS BILL WILL DO See here .
Published on Wednesday March 18.. GOVERNMENT ADVICE ON SOCIAL DISTANCING , AND PROTECTING OLDER PEOPLE AND VULNERABLE ADULTS See here .
Published on Monday March 16 .
HOW TO AVOID CATCHING OR SPREADING CORONAVIRUS • Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds .
• Always wash your hands when you get home or into work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soap and water are not available .
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve ( not your hands ) when you cough or sneeze .
• Put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards .
• Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell .
The symptoms of coronavirus are : However , these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness .
The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common , such as cold and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus service that can tell you if you need medical help and advise you what to do .
Use this service if : • You think you might have coronavirus .
• In the last 14 days you ’ ve been to a country or area with a high risk of coronavirus – see the coronavirus advice for travellers .
• You ’ ve been in close contact with someone with coronavirus .
• In Scotland call your GP or NHS 24 on 111 out of hours .
• In Wales call 111 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or 0845 46 47 .
• Do not go to a GP surgery , pharmacy or hospital .
• What the coronavirus is , how it ’ s spread and how to avoid catching it – Government NHS website overview .
• Stay at home advice and how to manage self-isolation .
All information taken from Government sources .
Update as of 21.00 on Friday 20thMarch .

HEADLINE FACTS
Total number of lab-confirmed UK cases: 292,950 (Up from 291,409).
Total number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths: 41,481 (Up from 41,279).
Daily number of lab-confirmed UK cases: 1,541 (Up from 1,266).
Daily number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths: 202 (Up from 151).
England total cases: 156,410 (Up from 156,018 ).
England total deaths: 37,069 (Up from 36,883).
England death rate: 279.4 (Was 278.7).
Scotland total cases: 15,709 (Up from 15,682).
Scotland total deaths: 2,439 (Up from 2,434).
Scotland death rate: 288.9 (Was 288.4).
Wales total cases: 14,658 (Up from 14,581).
Wales total deaths: 1,435 (Up from 1,425).
Wales death rate: 467.0 (Was 464.6)
Northern Ireland total cases: 4,838 (Up from 4,822)
Northern Ireland total deaths: 538 (Up from 537).
Northern Ireland death rate: 257.1 (Was 256.3).
From the Government’s website Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK.
DAILY NUMBER OF COVID-19 ASSOCIATED DEATHS BY DATE REPORTED
DAILY NUMBER OF LAB-CONFIRMED ENGLAND CASES
From the Government’s website Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK.
– – –
RISK
“The risk to the UK has been raised to high” –
From the Government’s website Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK.
– – –
NHS VOLUNTEER RESPONDER FORM
See here
(The Government’s scheme to recruit 250,000 volunteers.)
– – –
OUR PLAN TO REBUILD: THE UK GOVERNMENT’S COVID-19 RECOVERY STRATEGY
See here. New as of Monday May 11.
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON THE LOCKDOWN.
See here. New as of Tuesday June 2.
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON SHIELDING AND PROTECTING PEOPLE WHO ARE CLINICALLY EXTREMELY VULNERABLE FROM COVID-19
See here. New as of Tuesday June 2.
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON SOCIAL DISTANCING
See here. New as of Tuesday June 2.
GOVERNMENT WEBSITE: GENERAL ADVICE
See here.
GOVERNMENT WEBSITE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS. WHAT YOU CAN DO AND CAN’T DO
See here.
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE FOR LANDLORDS, TENANTS AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES NEW
See here. Published on Saturday March 28.
– – –
HOW TO AVOID CATCHING OR SPREADING CORONAVIRUS
Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds .
Always wash your hands when you get home or into work .
Use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available .
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze .
Put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards .
Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell.
SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of coronavirus are:
A cough.
A high temperature.
Shortness of breath.
However, these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness.
The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common, such as cold and flu.
USING 111
NHS 111 has an online coronavirus service that can tell you if you need medical help and advise you what to do.
Use this service if:
You think you might have coronavirus.
In the last 14 days you’ve been to a country or area with a high risk of coronavirus – see the coronavirus advice for travellers.
You’ve been in close contact with someone with coronavirus.
In Scotland call your GP or NHS 24 on 111 out of hours.
In Wales call 111 (if available in your area) or 0845 46 47.
In Northern Ireland call 111.
Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
FURTHER LINKS TO GOVERNMENT ADVICE
– – –
(All information taken from Government sources.
Updated as of 19.00 on Friday June 12.)


conservativehome--2020-03-21--We’re urged to revive the spirit of the Blitz. But the Britain of World War Two didn’t always pull t

We’re urged to revive the spirit of the Blitz. But the Britain of World War Two didn’t always pull together.

“ We are in a war , ” Matt Hancock , the Health Secretary , told the Commons on Monday .
“ We are at war , ” Emmanuel Macron , President of France , said in his address on the same day to his compatriots , adding that this requires “ our general mobilisation ” .
Macron was born in 1977 , Hancock in 1978 .
In a piece for last weekend ’ s Sunday Telegraph , the Health Secretary declared : Well yes , there was a gigantic national effort .
But there were also strikes during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Britain , including the mines , munitions factories , aircraft manufacturers and shipyards .
The heroic version of the war is true , but not the whole truth .
There were plenty of occasions when not everyone pulled together .
Consider this account by W.F .
Deedes , future Conservative MP , Cabinet minister and Editor of The Daily Telegraph , written in 1994 on the 50th anniversary of D-Day , about the embarkation from London Docks of the American-made armoured cars in which his Company of riflemen would fight their way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Docks , where a problem had arisen : On arrival at our berth , my eye met a confused scene .
All our vehicles were still on the quayside .
The ship stood empty .
“ The dockers , ” said Coleridge , “ say they can ’ t handle it.
” He urged me to reason with them .
“ Trouble is , mate , ” the dockers replied in the friendliest terms , “ we haven ’ t got the rate.
” “ That ’ s right , the rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Never seen ’ em before.
” Coleridge and I pleaded with them for a while .
He then urged me to try a speech on the lines of ‘ Friends , Romans , countrymen… ’ Look , I said to the dockers , some of the men in the Normandy bridgehead are possibly sons , nephews , relatives of yours .
They are hanging on by their eyebrows .
Surely you want us there to back them up .
The dockers nodded enthusiastically .
‘ Abso-ruddy-lutely , ’ they said .
‘ Sooner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you see , we haven ’ t got the rate.
’ After a long spell of this we reached a compromise .
The riflemen would be permitted to load our vehicles , and a retired docker would be permitted to advise .
Loading took a very long time , and the outcome was predictable .
All our cars had been waterproofed , so that they could move through about three feet of sea water .
In inexpert hands , they went into the ship ’ s hold like falling leaves… So it came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Company ’ s scout cars sank shortly after taking to the water.
” The crisis had exposed a pre-existing weakness – labour relations in the docks – which there was now no time to put right .
Nor were these weaknesses limited to the home front , or to civilian life .
The war highlighted the deficiencies of British commanders in the most embarrassing way .
The rout which led to Dunkirk , the fall of Tobruk and the fall of Singapore are among the many humiliations for British arms which might be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Japanese along with 80,000 British , Indian and Australian troops in February 1942 , was supposed to be impregnable , and was well defended against attack from its southern , seaward , side , but owing to errors dating back to 1925 had no defences on its northern , landward side .
Nor would Lieutenant-General Percival , commanding its defence , accept the urgent advice of his subordinate , Brigadier Simson , and his superior , General Wavell , that anti-tank defences must be constructed on the landward side while there was yet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these defences would be “ bad for the morale of troops and civilians ” .
What he meant , Norman Dixon suggests in On the Psychology of Military Incompetence , was that Percival would have to admit to himself the peril in which Singapore now lay .
The dogma to which Percival and his predecessors subscribed , and which turned out to be nonsense , was that the Japanese would find it impossible to advance with tanks down the Malay Peninsula , owing to the impenetrable jungle .
The fall of Singapore was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fate , the fourth volume of his account of the Second World War , as “ the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history ” .
That volume covers the events of 1942 , and Churchill remarks in his Preface that during that year “ we went from almost uninterrupted disaster to almost unbroken success.
” What catastrophes he and his colleagues had to withstand in the first two years of his wartime leadership .
The retrospective glow conferred by victory obscures the truth that in 1940 many Conservative MPs felt a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were furious that “ the gangsters ” , as Lord Halifax called Churchill and his band of outsiders , were now in control .
So gentlemanly a figure as Lord Dunglass described those round Churchill as “ scum ” .
Dunglass had entered the Commons in 1931 as Member for Lanark , had served as Chamberlain ’ s Parliamentary Private Secretary , and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home would serve as Prime Minister from 1963-64 .
Nor was Churchill universally popular with the voters .
Here is Harold Nicolson , man of letters and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diary on 7th February 1944 : “ I fear that Winston has become a liability now rather than an asset .
This makes me sick with human nature .
Once the open sea is reached we forget how we clung to the pilot in the storm .
Poor Winston who is so sensitive although so pugnacious will feel all this .
In the station lavatory at Blackheath last week I found scrawled up ‘ Winston Churchill is a bastard ’ .
I pointed this out to the Wing Commander who was with me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ‘ the tide has turned .
We find it everywhere.
’ ‘ But how foul , ’ I said , ‘ How bloody foul !
’ ‘ Well you see , if I may say so , the men hate politicians.
’ Winston a politician !
Good God !
!
!
” The Wing Commander was right .
The tide had turned against Churchill and in 1945 the people threw him out .
So we should refrain from implying that some glorious state of unity existed during the war .
Churchill ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a long charge sheet against him , dating back to Tonypandy and Gallipoli .
But the wartime analogy does fit when it is used to suggest that extraordinary measures , unlike those which would normally be considered acceptable in peacetime , must be used to deal with the pandemic .
Patience and resilience in adversity , rapid technological advance and the ability to learn from experience : these wartime characteristics are certainly needed now .
Boris Johnson said in his opening statement at his press conference on Tuesday with Rishi Sunak that “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and do whatever it takes to support our economy ” .
That is correct , but in a free country it is also correct that the ministers taking those decisions remain subject to searching criticism and scrutiny , and to vulgar abuse .

“We are in a war,” Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, told the Commons on Monday.
“We are at war,” Emmanuel Macron, President of France, said in his address on the same day to his compatriots, adding that this requires “our general mobilisation”.
Macron was born in 1977, Hancock in 1978. In a piece for last weekend’s Sunday Telegraph, the Health Secretary declared:
“Our generation has never been tested like this. Our grandparents were, during the Second World War, when our cities were bombed during the Blitz. Despite the pounding every night, the rationing, the loss of life, they pulled together in one gigantic national effort.”
Well yes, there was a gigantic national effort. But there were also strikes during the Second World War in every major industry in Britain, including the mines, munitions factories, aircraft manufacturers and shipyards.
The heroic version of the war is true, but not the whole truth.
There were plenty of occasions when not everyone pulled together. Consider this account by W.F. Deedes, future Conservative MP, Cabinet minister and Editor of The Daily Telegraph, written in 1994 on the 50th anniversary of D-Day, about the embarkation from London Docks of the American-made armoured cars in which his Company of riflemen would fight their way through Normandy.
Deedes was summoned to the Docks, where a problem had arisen:
On arrival at our berth, my eye met a confused scene. All our vehicles were still on the quayside. The ship stood empty. “The dockers,” said Coleridge, “say they can’t handle it.” He urged me to reason with them. “Trouble is, mate,” the dockers replied in the friendliest terms, “we haven’t got the rate.” “The rate?” “That’s right, the rate for loading these ‘ere vehicles. Never seen ’em before.” Coleridge and I pleaded with them for a while. He then urged me to try a speech on the lines of ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen…’ Look, I said to the dockers, some of the men in the Normandy bridgehead are possibly sons, nephews, relatives of yours. They are hanging on by their eyebrows. Surely you want us there to back them up. The dockers nodded enthusiastically. ‘Abso-ruddy-lutely,’ they said. ‘Sooner you get there the better but, you see, we haven’t got the rate.’ After a long spell of this we reached a compromise. The riflemen would be permitted to load our vehicles, and a retired docker would be permitted to advise. Loading took a very long time, and the outcome was predictable. All our cars had been waterproofed, so that they could move through about three feet of sea water. In inexpert hands, they went into the ship’s hold like falling leaves… So it came about that roughly a quarter of my Company’s scout cars sank shortly after taking to the water.”
The crisis had exposed a pre-existing weakness – labour relations in the docks – which there was now no time to put right.
Nor were these weaknesses limited to the home front, or to civilian life. The war highlighted the deficiencies of British commanders in the most embarrassing way.
The rout which led to Dunkirk, the fall of Tobruk and the fall of Singapore are among the many humiliations for British arms which might be cited.
Singapore, captured by the Japanese along with 80,000 British, Indian and Australian troops in February 1942, was supposed to be impregnable, and was well defended against attack from its southern, seaward, side, but owing to errors dating back to 1925 had no defences on its northern, landward side.
Nor would Lieutenant-General Percival, commanding its defence, accept the urgent advice of his subordinate, Brigadier Simson, and his superior, General Wavell, that anti-tank defences must be constructed on the landward side while there was yet time.
Percival said that to construct these defences would be “bad for the morale of troops and civilians”.
What he meant, Norman Dixon suggests in On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, was that Percival would have to admit to himself the peril in which Singapore now lay.
The dogma to which Percival and his predecessors subscribed, and which turned out to be nonsense, was that the Japanese would find it impossible to advance with tanks down the Malay Peninsula, owing to the impenetrable jungle.
The fall of Singapore was described by Churchill in The Hinge of Fate, the fourth volume of his account of the Second World War, as “the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history”.
That volume covers the events of 1942, and Churchill remarks in his Preface that during that year “we went from almost uninterrupted disaster to almost unbroken success.”
What catastrophes he and his colleagues had to withstand in the first two years of his wartime leadership.
The retrospective glow conferred by victory obscures the truth that in 1940 many Conservative MPs felt a profound loyalty to Neville Chamberlain, and were furious that “the gangsters”, as Lord Halifax called Churchill and his band of outsiders, were now in control.
So gentlemanly a figure as Lord Dunglass described those round Churchill as “scum”. Dunglass had entered the Commons in 1931 as Member for Lanark, had served as Chamberlain’s Parliamentary Private Secretary, and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home would serve as Prime Minister from 1963-64.
Nor was Churchill universally popular with the voters. Here is Harold Nicolson, man of letters and National Labour MP, writing in his diary on 7th February 1944:
“I fear that Winston has become a liability now rather than an asset. This makes me sick with human nature. Once the open sea is reached we forget how we clung to the pilot in the storm. Poor Winston who is so sensitive although so pugnacious will feel all this. In the station lavatory at Blackheath last week I found scrawled up ‘Winston Churchill is a bastard’. I pointed this out to the Wing Commander who was with me. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘the tide has turned. We find it everywhere.’ ‘But how foul,’ I said, ‘How bloody foul!’ ‘Well you see, if I may say so, the men hate politicians.’ Winston a politician! Good God!!!”
The Wing Commander was right. The tide had turned against Churchill and in 1945 the people threw him out.
So we should refrain from implying that some glorious state of unity existed during the war. Churchill’s critics were able to draw up a long charge sheet against him, dating back to Tonypandy and Gallipoli.
But the wartime analogy does fit when it is used to suggest that extraordinary measures, unlike those which would normally be considered acceptable in peacetime, must be used to deal with the pandemic.
Patience and resilience in adversity, rapid technological advance and the ability to learn from experience: these wartime characteristics are certainly needed now.
Boris Johnson said in his opening statement at his press conference on Tuesday with Rishi Sunak that “we must act like any wartime government and do whatever it takes to support our economy”.
That is correct, but in a free country it is also correct that the ministers taking those decisions remain subject to searching criticism and scrutiny, and to vulgar abuse.


Coronavirus Count


conservativehome--2020-03-21--A book which sees the ultra-liberals as a threat. But doesn’t recognise that they’re not having it a

A book which sees the ultra-liberals as a threat. But doesn’t recognise that they’re not having it all their own way.

Remaking One Nation : Conservatism in an Age of Crisis by Nick Timothy Nick Timothy begins his book with his own crisis : “ At two minutes to ten , my world fell to pieces.
” It was the night of the 2017 general election , and his friend and colleague , Fiona Hill , had just shown him the exit poll .
It indicated that instead of the greatly increased Conservative majority , which they expected when they urged the Prime Minister to go to the polls , there was going to be a hung parliament .
Theresa May @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I remember thinking she sounded like a child who wanted to be told everything was just fine.
” A year before , everything was just fine .
May took over from David Cameron as Prime Minister and Timothy wrote the speech she delivered in Downing Street : “ If you ’ re from an ordinary working-class family , life is much harder than many people in Westminster realise… ” This goes down well , but another speech worked on by Timothy , and delivered at the party conference in the autumn of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ May ’ s condemnation of “ citizens of nowhere ” .
He remains angry and resentful about the criticism she incurred : To write , or indeed to speak , those words betrays a cloth ear .
May , so far as we know , let them through without a murmur : she had a disconcerting habit of saying whatever her staff gave her .
Timothy , over three years later , still can not see the problem , which is that a citizen of the world may also have local loyalties and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a passion , and joins every local organisation going , so felt infuriated to be told , by this unimaginative Prime Minister , “ if you believe you ’ re a citizen of the world , you ’ re a citizen of nowhere ” .
Nor were citizens of the world the only ones to bridle at her remark .
Backwoodsmen were huffy too .
Those of us who love our own village , town or county may also aspire , however ludicrously , when we visit Paris , to pass ourselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capable of speaking French and entering into the literature , art and manners of a civilisation into which we were not born .
This is not a linguistic quibble .
Language is of the essence .
Timothy describes how , until his thirties , he was “ a fairly conventional conservative ” , but then “ started to reflect on the hostility many Conservatives feel towards the state ” : Seven of those eight figures used language in a wonderful way to convey political insights .
Timothy draws most often on Burke and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his text gains in colour and power .
Thatcher did not use language in a wonderful way .
She knew , however , that finding the right language was an indispensable task for the practical politician , and she never stopped exhorting the best writers she could find to produce the right words .
Composing speeches for her was agony .
Often the drafts got worse and worse , with the best stuff long since discarded and her team barely able to keep their eyes open as she drove them on into the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work on the 33rd version of the text .
All this is described to brilliant comic effect towards the end of Cold Cream , Ferdinand Mount ’ s memoir .
The greatest conservative writers manage at one and the same time to be profound and flippant ; to care deeply about what they are trying to say , but also to admit the vanity of their endeavours , so the joke is often at their own expense , for striving so presumptuously to give coherent expression to a tradition which is fluid , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , more a matter of intimation than of ideology , resourceful and creative and wise , but also at times quite plainly inadequate and barren .
Mount spent some time in the Conservative Research Department , and so did Timothy .
It offers a useful training in the composition of briefing papers which make the best case for whatever the Conservatives are doing or saying , without actually lying .
One studies too the weaknesses of one ’ s opponents , seizing with joy on any inconsistencies between what one Labour figure and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last few years about their policies .
But none of this wonkery amounts to adequate preparation for taking wider views , let alone for writing a work of political philosophy .
Timothy has identified “ a crisis of liberal democracy that is driven by the excesses of ideological ultra-liberals ” : Most readers of ConservativeHome will agree with this , as will many on the Left .
As Timothy points out , it was when the sense of nationhood was particularly strong that the Labour Government led by Clement Attlee launched the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of his 228 pages of text , Timothy has worked round to an attempt to define Britishness , while also admitting that this is an impossible task .
He lists , enjoyably enough , Wembley , Wimbledon , Bonfire Night and so forth , and says that “ our national identity is derived from stories , traditions and institutions – and a reverence of particular places – that are uniquely ours ” .
This , he remarks , inevitably makes it “ exclusive ” .
He does not go on to contemplate defining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the House of Commons – a right which once acquired , is thoroughly inclusive .
The artificiality of that idea of Britishness makes it accessible to just about everyone .
One of the things which immigrants often like about living in Britain is our tradition of privacy : if you don ’ t want to participate in Wembley , Wimbledon or Bonfire Night , or indeed in a general election , you don ’ t have to , and whatever you may choose to do in your own home is your own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be left alone .
Timothy says “ we need a revival of community ” , which is doubtless true , but in its earnestness , misses the pleasure to be derived from not joining in .
He touches on the decline in church membership , but without expressing much in the way of regret , or developing anything like a Christian conception of politics .
In his final chapter , Remaking One Nation , Timothy says conservatives must “ think more positively about the state , and more creatively about community ” , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dreary exhortation : “ The world needs a new multilateralism ” , “ We need to make the most of our world-class universities ” , “ We need to do far more to support families , especially those who need the most help.
” Having identified ultra-liberalism as the threat , he is not particularly disposed to recognise that the ultra-liberals are not having things all their own way .
The Conservative victory in the general election of 2019 , on a promise to Get Brexit Done , was a crushing defeat for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Coronavirus will be , one can not yet know .
But in each country , the need for a national response is felt , and national leaders will take the blame if they fail to provide it .
Boris Johnson , lover of Latin and Greek , enthusiastic speaker of French , descendant of Ali Kemal , Elias Lowe and James Fawcett , is in some ways a citizen of the world , in others a stage Englishman , but what matters now is that he is a national leader , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either a saviour or a scapegoat , or perhaps as some imponderable amalgam of the two .
While Timothy was writing his book , the nation state was reasserting itself .
What to read if one wants to understand something of the mentality of Johnson ?
The ultra-liberals know he is their enemy , but are too blinded by rage to see him steadily and see him whole .
Oddly enough , a volume of only 63 pages springs to mind .
It provokes laughter on every page , something Timothy does not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ romantic and comic faith , not a platitudinous one , and here are glimpses of the paradoxes which went to form the most bizarre leader the Conservatives have ever had , and the only one to inspire the creation of a posthumous cult .
The Sayings of Disraeli , edited by Robert Blake and recently reissued with a foreword by Alistair Lexden , is the most enjoyable and discerning book about politics I have come across in the last year .

Remaking One Nation: Conservatism in an Age of Crisis by Nick Timothy
Nick Timothy begins his book with his own crisis: “At two minutes to ten, my world fell to pieces.” It was the night of the 2017 general election, and his friend and colleague, Fiona Hill, had just shown him the exit poll. It indicated that instead of the greatly increased Conservative majority, which they expected when they urged the Prime Minister to go to the polls, there was going to be a hung parliament.
Theresa May rang him: “She was sobbing. I remember thinking she sounded like a child who wanted to be told everything was just fine.”
A year before, everything was just fine. May took over from David Cameron as Prime Minister and Timothy wrote the speech she delivered in Downing Street: “If you’re from an ordinary working-class family, life is much harder than many people in Westminster realise…”
This goes down well, but another speech worked on by Timothy, and delivered at the party conference in the autumn of 2016, draws adverse comment because of May’s condemnation of “citizens of nowhere”.
He remains angry and resentful about the criticism she incurred:
“It suited campaigners and political opponents to claim that Theresa had used this language to describe opponents of Brexit. But this was nonsense, as anybody listening at the time knew. Her targets were the more irresponsible and selfish members of big international business. The speech was absolutely clear. ‘Today,’ she said, ‘too many people in positions of power behave as though they have more in common with international elites than with the people down the road, the people they employ, the people they pass in the street. But if you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere. You don’t understand what the very word ‘citizenship’ means.'”
To write, or indeed to speak, those words betrays a cloth ear. May, so far as we know, let them through without a murmur: she had a disconcerting habit of saying whatever her staff gave her.
Timothy, over three years later, still cannot see the problem, which is that a citizen of the world may also have local loyalties and affections. The Hampstead liberal loves Hampstead with a passion, and joins every local organisation going, so felt infuriated to be told, by this unimaginative Prime Minister, “if you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere”.
Nor were citizens of the world the only ones to bridle at her remark. Backwoodsmen were huffy too.
Those of us who love our own village, town or county may also aspire, however ludicrously, when we visit Paris, to pass ourselves off as citizens of the world, capable of speaking French and entering into the literature, art and manners of a civilisation into which we were not born.
This is not a linguistic quibble. Language is of the essence. Timothy describes how, until his thirties, he was “a fairly conventional conservative”, but then “started to reflect on the hostility many Conservatives feel towards the state”:
“And the way I thought about policy became more unorthodox. Unorthodox, that is, to those modern Conservatives who have been enticed by liberal and libertarian ideology. In fact, my beliefs are entirely consistent with the long tradition of conservative philosophy. They are influenced by Burke, Hume, Smith, Disraeli, Oakeshott, Churchill, Macmillan and Thatcher.”
Seven of those eight figures used language in a wonderful way to convey political insights. Timothy draws most often on Burke and Disraeli, and whenever he does, his text gains in colour and power.
Thatcher did not use language in a wonderful way. She knew, however, that finding the right language was an indispensable task for the practical politician, and she never stopped exhorting the best writers she could find to produce the right words.
Composing speeches for her was agony. Often the drafts got worse and worse, with the best stuff long since discarded and her team barely able to keep their eyes open as she drove them on into the early hours of the morning, at work on the 33rd version of the text.
All this is described to brilliant comic effect towards the end of Cold Cream, Ferdinand Mount’s memoir. The greatest conservative writers manage at one and the same time to be profound and flippant; to care deeply about what they are trying to say, but also to admit the vanity of their endeavours, so the joke is often at their own expense, for striving so presumptuously to give coherent expression to a tradition which is fluid, inconsistent, at the mercy of circumstance, more a matter of intimation than of ideology, resourceful and creative and wise, but also at times quite plainly inadequate and barren.
Mount spent some time in the Conservative Research Department, and so did Timothy. It offers a useful training in the composition of briefing papers which make the best case for whatever the Conservatives are doing or saying, without actually lying.
One studies too the weaknesses of one’s opponents, seizing with joy on any inconsistencies between what one Labour figure and another has said at any time in the last few years about their policies.
But none of this wonkery amounts to adequate preparation for taking wider views, let alone for writing a work of political philosophy.
Timothy has identified “a crisis of liberal democracy that is driven by the excesses of ideological ultra-liberals”:
“many liberals fall into the trap of believing that the historical, cultural and institutional context of government is irrelevant. Institutions and traditions that impose obligations on us can simply be cast off. All that matters, as far as government is concerned, is the freedom of the individual and the preservation of their property. The relational essence of humanity – our dependence on others, our reliance on the institutions and norms of community life – is ignored. From its earliest days, liberalism has taken both community and nation for granted, and had little to say about the obligations as well as rights of citizenship.”
Most readers of ConservativeHome will agree with this, as will many on the Left. As Timothy points out, it was when the sense of nationhood was particularly strong that the Labour Government led by Clement Attlee launched the National Health Service.
By page 180 of his 228 pages of text, Timothy has worked round to an attempt to define Britishness, while also admitting that this is an impossible task.
He lists, enjoyably enough, Wembley, Wimbledon, Bonfire Night and so forth, and says that “our national identity is derived from stories, traditions and institutions – and a reverence of particular places – that are uniquely ours”.
This, he remarks, inevitably makes it “exclusive”. He does not go on to contemplate defining Britishness as the right to elect members of the House of Commons – a right which once acquired, is thoroughly inclusive.
The artificiality of that idea of Britishness makes it accessible to just about everyone. One of the things which immigrants often like about living in Britain is our tradition of privacy: if you don’t want to participate in Wembley, Wimbledon or Bonfire Night, or indeed in a general election, you don’t have to, and whatever you may choose to do in your own home is your own affair.
We have the right to be left alone. Timothy says “we need a revival of community”, which is doubtless true, but in its earnestness, misses the pleasure to be derived from not joining in. He touches on the decline in church membership, but without expressing much in the way of regret, or developing anything like a Christian conception of politics.
In his final chapter, Remaking One Nation, Timothy says conservatives must “think more positively about the state, and more creatively about community”, before ending with page after page of dreary exhortation: “The world needs a new multilateralism”, “We need to make the most of our world-class universities”, “We need to do far more to support families, especially those who need the most help.”
Having identified ultra-liberalism as the threat, he is not particularly disposed to recognise that the ultra-liberals are not having things all their own way.
The Conservative victory in the general election of 2019, on a promise to Get Brexit Done, was a crushing defeat for the ultra-liberals.
Quite what the effect of the Coronavirus will be, one cannot yet know. But in each country, the need for a national response is felt, and national leaders will take the blame if they fail to provide it.
Boris Johnson, lover of Latin and Greek, enthusiastic speaker of French, descendant of Ali Kemal, Elias Lowe and James Fawcett, is in some ways a citizen of the world, in others a stage Englishman, but what matters now is that he is a national leader, who will within months be seen as either a saviour or a scapegoat, or perhaps as some imponderable amalgam of the two.
While Timothy was writing his book, the nation state was reasserting itself. What to read if one wants to understand something of the mentality of Johnson? The ultra-liberals know he is their enemy, but are too blinded by rage to see him steadily and see him whole.
Oddly enough, a volume of only 63 pages springs to mind. It provokes laughter on every page, something Timothy does not attempt.
Here is conservatism as a romantic and comic faith, not a platitudinous one, and here are glimpses of the paradoxes which went to form the most bizarre leader the Conservatives have ever had, and the only one to inspire the creation of a posthumous cult.
The Sayings of Disraeli, edited by Robert Blake and recently reissued with a foreword by Alistair Lexden, is the most enjoyable and discerning book about politics I have come across in the last year.


conservativehome--2020-03-21--WATCH: Luke Evans, NHS doctor and Tory MP, on self-distancing and self-isolation – what’s the differ

WATCH: Luke Evans, NHS doctor and Tory MP, on self-distancing and self-isolation – what’s the difference?

The Government is calling on MPs who ’ ve recently worked in the NHS to return and help counter the @ @ @ @ @ that these include – • Maria Caulfield , who has tweeted that she will be @ @ @ @ @ line in the NHS ” .
• Caroline Jackson , MP for Sleaford and North @ @ @ @ @ as a paediatrician at Peterborough Hospital .
• And Luke Evans , who is “ @ @ @ @ @ and has been posting information videos , like the above , about how to respond @ @ @ @ @ it is .

Update video: the interpretation of self isolation and when to come out and go in…..#coronavirus #Covid_19 https://t.co/3BqZM8ZCPA — Dr Luke Evans MP #StayHomeSaveLives (@drlukeevans) March 20, 2020
The Government is calling on MPs who’ve recently worked in the NHS to return and help counter the Coronavirus. The BBC reports that these include –
Maria Caulfield, who has tweeted that she will be “ returning to the front line in the NHS”.
Caroline Jackson, MP for Sleaford and North Hykeham, who is working as a paediatrician at Peterborough Hospital.
And Luke Evans, who is “still a GP”, and has been posting information videos, like the above, about how to respond to the virus.\
And here it is.


conservativehome--2020-03-22--WATCH: “We want to live in a free society”, Jenrick responds to lockdown demands

`` We do n't want to go down that route '' Housing secretary @ RobertJenrick says the government want to @ @ @ @ @ free society '' without lockdown , but if people do n't follow their advice they @ @ @ @ @ other options '' .
# Ridge : https : //t.co/ndBHkQrGAQ pic.twitter.com/bzHekjqIAi

"We don't want to go down that route"
Housing secretary @RobertJenrick says the government want to continue living in a "free society" without lockdown, but if people don't follow their advice they will "have to consider other options".#Ridge: https://t.co/ndBHkQrGAQ pic.twitter.com/bzHekjqIAi
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) March 22, 2020


conservativehome--2020-03-22--WATCH: Corbyn – Johnson said “he’d get Brexit done”, but “hasn’t got a trade deal with the USA”

`` You led the party to the worst defeat in 85 years… '' – @ SophyRidgeSky .
Labour leader @ @ @ @ @ @ unprecedented attacks made against '' them in the 2019 election .

"You led the party to the worst defeat in 85 years…" – @SophyRidgeSky.
Labour leader @jeremycorbyn says they had "unprecedented attacks made against" them in the 2019 election.
Follow #Ridge live: https://t.co/aIQJkNaOWE pic.twitter.com/D57rL84BN6
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) March 22, 2020


conservativehome--2020-03-22--WATCH: Hunt – “I’m sure the Chancellor will be looking at self-employed as well”

'The most comprehensive economic package that 's been announced anywhere in the western world ' @ Jeremy_Hunt says the governments @ @ @ @ @ huge step '' and `` a vote of confidence '' that we will `` get @ @ @ @ @ after # coronavirus # Ridge : https : //t.co/aIQJkNaOWE pic.twitter.com/hsamhK8QK5

'The most comprehensive economic package that's been announced anywhere in the western world'@Jeremy_Hunt says the governments economic package is "a huge step" and "a vote of confidence" that we will "get back to normal life" after #coronavirus#Ridge: https://t.co/aIQJkNaOWE pic.twitter.com/hsamhK8QK5
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) March 22, 2020


conservativehome--2020-03-22--WATCH: Jenrick says government is making “good progress” on hospital supplies

`` Personal protective equipment will get to the frontline as soon as possible '' # Marr asks the Communities Secretary @ @ @ @ @ for NHS staff will get to the frontline # Covid_19 https : //t.co/LlkfQTuNug pic.twitter.com/UnwqbT8S3O

"Personal protective equipment will get to the frontline as soon as possible"#Marr asks the Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick when protective equipment for NHS staff will get to the frontline#Covid_19 https://t.co/LlkfQTuNug pic.twitter.com/UnwqbT8S3O
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) March 22, 2020


conservativehome--2020-03-22--WATCH: “I’m quite clear; unless people stay at home… more people will die”, says Khan

`` Please , please , please '' stop social mixing or `` more people will die '' The Mayor of @ @ @ @ @ # Marr about # Covid_19https : //t.co/KidqEmUYa1 pic.twitter.com/ATHea8aTd8

"Please, please, please" stop social mixing or "more people will die"
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan talks to #Marr about #Covid_19https://t.co/KidqEmUYa1 pic.twitter.com/ATHea8aTd8
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) March 22, 2020


conservativehome--2020-03-22--The rights and wrongs of the Government’s treatment of the self-employed

Imagine that a year ago Theresa May , then Prime Minister , had made a dramatic announcement about public emergencies – slap bang in the midst of the Brexit turmoil .
On that very day , this site carried her press release confirming that Britain ’ s date for departure had been postponed until April 12 at the earliest – and that any further extension “ would mean participation in the European Parliamentary elections ” .
Within a week , Oliver Letwin ’ s motion to seize control of Commons business had been passed , with three Ministers resigning to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that imaginary statement from the then Prime Minister .
Let ’ s suppose that she had said that the NHS was switching resources to buy ventilators and surgical masks ; that HMRC was preparing to revise its systems to better reach the self-employed , and that the army was taking special measures to keep recruiting stations open in a crisis .
The uproar would have echoed nationwide .
Leave EU would have denounced a Remainer scheme by “ Treason May ” .
Labour MPs would have said that the NHS move was a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ front line of resources .
As for the army , Carole Cadwalladr would have written that the whole exercise was a Leaver conspiracy , perhaps funded by Vladimir Putin , to prepare for a military coup .
Some who claim to speak for the self-employed would have said that the new plan ’ s intention was to draw them , IR35-like , into being treated like employees .
Add to the mix the nation ’ s propensity to want public money to be spent now , rather than invested for a rainy day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ why no such plan was made last year , but has never been made at all .
All this is not a bad way to start thinking about a real world aspect of part of the above – namely , the treatment of the self-employed under the Government ’ s latest economic package to help counter the Coronavirus crisis .
Those who work for themselves are undoubtedly being treated less generously than those who work for others .
There is a devil ’ s advocate defence of the rationale behind the Government ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out in order ultimately to debunk it .
The case begins with practicalities .
Rishi Sunak ’ s new Jobs Retention Scheme is focused on firms and employees because these are relatively easy to find .
The data that HMRC holds on them will be up-to-date in most cases .
This is not so with the self-employed , and it ’ s claimed that the Government doesn ’ t hold bank accounts for all of them .
If Ministers had stepped up their plans to make tax digital , and sought to push @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some would indeed have claimed that the whole business was an IR35-type plot .
The Government could reasonably object that some of the very same people who denounce Ministers for imposing too much state intrusion are now denouncing them for not imposing more .
There is an additional practical problem which also becomes a philosophical one .
If a firm tries to cheat the Jobs Retention Scheme by taking the money , claiming that workers have been furloughed , and then quietly insisting that they continue to work , the fraud will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , employees could complain – and ultimately make those complaints public .
But if a self-employed person takes the money and defrauds the system , who is to know ?
So there is moral hazard in the taxpayer footing the bill .
The issues of principle stretch wider .
If a firm goes bust and its employees lose their jobs , they will have none to return to when the crisis lifts .
But if a self-employed actor or plasterer or electrician or childminder won ’ t have to face that problem , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s planning say .
Furthermore , Tory MPs suggesting that their self-employed constituents can ’ t live on expanded Universal Credit – the cornerstone of planned help for them at present – should think through what they ’ re saying .
Labour and Momentum will be taking a note of their names and seats .
And will remind voters , when the time comes , that their local Conservative MP intimated , while the Coronavirus was raging , that Universal Credit isn ’ t enough to live on .
What ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we said above that we would set out this case in order ultimately to dismiss it – and so we shall .
For example , it isn ’ t convincing to argue that , once the virus abates , the self-employed will simply be able to pick up where they left off .
The actor may find that the theatres take time to get back to full tilt .
The childminder , that families have shifted their childcare habits for good , as they are now used to working from home .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discovered the money-saving joys of renovating and repairing their properties themselves .
And so on .
But the core of the case for putting the self-employed on the same basis as other workers is less theoretical than remorselessly political .
Just as public sector workers lean Labour , so the self-employed lean Conservative .
No wonder Tory MPs are knocking so loudly on the Chancellor ’ s door .
As for moral hazard , well , it was suspended for the banks during the financial crisis , on the ground that the entire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collapse .
What was good for the capitalist goose in 2008 must hold good for the workers ’ gander in 2020 .
Given the scale of the crisis , there is a trade-off between fraud and simplicity .
Ministers have little choice but to baptise voters with a financial hosepipe , even if some of them don ’ t need the money ( or will run off with cash to which they ’ re not entitled ) .
In any event , there are simple actions that can help .
The Government is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ payments until the end of the financial year .
With the economy contracting at a frightening rate , Ministers have little choice but to delay them further , or write off a proportion of them altogether .
There is no point in giving with one hand through Universal Credit while taking with the other through VAT – or income tax at the standard rate .
Bright Blue argues that the self-employed should get the equivalent of the Maternity Allowance , which is around £150 per week , rather than Statutory Sick Pay , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also says that the Government could and should offset the five-week wait for Universal Credit by easing the repayment of advances and paying more of the credit upfront .
That is sensible .
Then there is the coming increase for some in bank overdraft charges .
The Financial Conduct Authority says that seven out of ten people will be better off as a consequence of new rules .
Even on those figures , three out of ten won ’ t be at this turbulent time .
And since the Authority argues that all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ be better off and see no change , ” the losers will , according to their own logic , be those who have arranged overdrafts .
This is an unreasonable burden on the latter at this or perhaps any time .
As matters stand , some Conservatives will take up arms for the self-employed .
Others will ask : where will this spraying about of taxpayers ’ money end ?
With “ 30 years of socialism , ” as Thatcherites used to complain ?
Tomorrow , ConHome will be writing about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There will be no end of calls for sunset clauses , regular Ministerial statements and future Commons votes .
They are a model for checks that should also be applied to the gargantuan but necessary state spending expansion that ’ s now taking place .

Imagine that a year ago Theresa May, then Prime Minister, had made a dramatic announcement about public emergencies – slap bang in the midst of the Brexit turmoil.
On that very day, this site carried her press release confirming that Britain’s date for departure had been postponed until April 12 at the earliest – and that any further extension “would mean participation in the European Parliamentary elections”.
Within a week, Oliver Letwin’s motion to seize control of Commons business had been passed, with three Ministers resigning to vote for it. Now return to that imaginary statement from the then Prime Minister.
Let’s suppose that she had said that the NHS was switching resources to buy ventilators and surgical masks; that HMRC was preparing to revise its systems to better reach the self-employed, and that the army was taking special measures to keep recruiting stations open in a crisis.
The uproar would have echoed nationwide. Leave EU would have denounced a Remainer scheme by “Treason May”. Labour MPs would have said that the NHS move was a plot to starve the service’s front line of resources.
As for the army, Carole Cadwalladr would have written that the whole exercise was a Leaver conspiracy, perhaps funded by Vladimir Putin, to prepare for a military coup. Some who claim to speak for the self-employed would have said that the new plan’s intention was to draw them, IR35-like, into being treated like employees.
Add to the mix the nation’s propensity to want public money to be spent now, rather than invested for a rainy day, and you will see at once why no such plan was made last year, but has never been made at all.
All this is not a bad way to start thinking about a real world aspect of part of the above – namely, the treatment of the self-employed under the Government’s latest economic package to help counter the Coronavirus crisis. Those who work for themselves are undoubtedly being treated less generously than those who work for others.
There is a devil’s advocate defence of the rationale behind the Government’s thinking, which we now set out in order ultimately to debunk it.
The case begins with practicalities. Rishi Sunak’s new Jobs Retention Scheme is focused on firms and employees because these are relatively easy to find. The data that HMRC holds on them will be up-to-date in most cases. This is not so with the self-employed, and it’s claimed that the Government doesn’t hold bank accounts for all of them.
If Ministers had stepped up their plans to make tax digital, and sought to push the plan faster on the self-employed, some would indeed have claimed that the whole business was an IR35-type plot.
The Government could reasonably object that some of the very same people who denounce Ministers for imposing too much state intrusion are now denouncing them for not imposing more. There is an additional practical problem which also becomes a philosophical one.
If a firm tries to cheat the Jobs Retention Scheme by taking the money, claiming that workers have been furloughed, and then quietly insisting that they continue to work, the fraud will be relatively easy to trace.
For example, employees could complain – and ultimately make those complaints public. But if a self-employed person takes the money and defrauds the system, who is to know? So there is moral hazard in the taxpayer footing the bill.
The issues of principle stretch wider. If a firm goes bust and its employees lose their jobs, they will have none to return to when the crisis lifts. But if a self-employed actor or plasterer or electrician or childminder won’t have to face that problem, some of those close to the Government’s planning say.
Furthermore, Tory MPs suggesting that their self-employed constituents can’t live on expanded Universal Credit – the cornerstone of planned help for them at present – should think through what they’re saying. Labour and Momentum will be taking a note of their names and seats.
And will remind voters, when the time comes, that their local Conservative MP intimated, while the Coronavirus was raging, that Universal Credit isn’t enough to live on. What’s changed, they will ask?
Now we said above that we would set out this case in order ultimately to dismiss it – and so we shall. For example, it isn’t convincing to argue that, once the virus abates, the self-employed will simply be able to pick up where they left off.
The actor may find that the theatres take time to get back to full tilt. The childminder, that families have shifted their childcare habits for good, as they are now used to working from home.
The plasterer, that their former clients have discovered the money-saving joys of renovating and repairing their properties themselves. And so on. But the core of the case for putting the self-employed on the same basis as other workers is less theoretical than remorselessly political.
Just as public sector workers lean Labour, so the self-employed lean Conservative. No wonder Tory MPs are knocking so loudly on the Chancellor’s door.
As for moral hazard, well, it was suspended for the banks during the financial crisis, on the ground that the entire economic system would be imperilled by their collapse. What was good for the capitalist goose in 2008 must hold good for the workers’ gander in 2020.
Given the scale of the crisis, there is a trade-off between fraud and simplicity. Ministers have little choice but to baptise voters with a financial hosepipe, even if some of them don’t need the money (or will run off with cash to which they’re not entitled).
In any event, there are simple actions that can help. The Government is already deferring the next quarter of VAT payments until the end of the financial year.
With the economy contracting at a frightening rate, Ministers have little choice but to delay them further, or write off a proportion of them altogether. There is no point in giving with one hand through Universal Credit while taking with the other through VAT – or income tax at the standard rate.
Bright Blue argues that the self-employed should get the equivalent of the Maternity Allowance, which is around £150 per week, rather than Statutory Sick Pay, which is £94.25 per week.
It also says that the Government could and should offset the five-week wait for Universal Credit by easing the repayment of advances and paying more of the credit upfront. That is sensible. Then there is the coming increase for some in bank overdraft charges.
The Financial Conduct Authority says that seven out of ten people will be better off as a consequence of new rules. Even on those figures, three out of ten won’t be at this turbulent time.
And since the Authority argues that all those who run up unarranged overdrafts will “be better off and see no change,” the losers will, according to their own logic, be those who have arranged overdrafts. This is an unreasonable burden on the latter at this or perhaps any time.
As matters stand, some Conservatives will take up arms for the self-employed. Others will ask: where will this spraying about of taxpayers’ money end? With “30 years of socialism,” as Thatcherites used to complain?
Tomorrow, ConHome will be writing about the Government’s proposed Emergency Legislation. There will be no end of calls for sunset clauses, regular Ministerial statements and future Commons votes. They are a model for checks that should also be applied to the gargantuan but necessary state spending expansion that’s now taking place.


Coronavirus Count

Total number of cases in the UK : 5,018 ( Up from 3,983 at the last count on this site ) .
Daily confirmed cases : 1,035 ( The figure on Friday at 21.00 was 714 ) .
From the Government ’ s website Number of coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) cases and risk in the UK .
From Public Health England ’ s webpage Total UK cases COVID-19 Cases Update .
The above are figures for England .
“ The risk to the UK has been raised to high ” – From the Government ’ s website Number of coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the UK .
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE FOR WORKERS ON WHAT AND HOW THEY CAN CLAIM NEW See here .
Published on Friday March 20 .
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON WHAT THE CORONAVIRUS BILL WILL DO See here .
Published on Wednesday March 18.. GOVERNMENT ADVICE ON SOCIAL DISTANCING , AND PROTECTING OLDER PEOPLE AND VULNERABLE ADULTS See here .
Published on Monday March 16 .
HOW TO AVOID CATCHING OR SPREADING CORONAVIRUS • Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds .
• Always wash your hands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
• Use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available .
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve ( not your hands ) when you cough or sneeze .
• Put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards .
• Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell .
The symptoms of coronavirus are : However , these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness .
The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flu .
NHS 111 has an online coronavirus service that can tell you if you need medical help and advise you what to do .
Use this service if : • You think you might have coronavirus .
• In the last 14 days you ’ ve been to a country or area with a high risk of coronavirus – see the coronavirus advice for travellers .
• You ’ ve been in close contact with someone with coronavirus .
• In Scotland call your GP or NHS 24 on 111 out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( if available in your area ) or 0845 46 47 .
• Do not go to a GP surgery , pharmacy or hospital .
• What the coronavirus is , how it ’ s spread and how to avoid catching it – Government NHS website overview .
• Stay at home advice and how to manage self-isolation .
All information taken from Government sources .
Update as of 7am on Sunday 22 March .