Britain cannot afford a return to crippling mass unemployment, and the Covid-19 pandemic has already cost one million workers their livelihoods.
But Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to push people off a cliff edge by ending the job-saving furlough scheme in October.
The most important issue is not the cost of rescue packages but the damage inflicted on workers and the economy.
A bold, brave government would continue support for individuals and businesses until the virus is fully under control, so the economy can bounce back as quickly as possible.
If ministers shut or restrict businesses, it is only fair that the workers and owners affected should be entitled to financial compensation.
The Government’s bailouts are relatively meagre compared to France or Germany, and we urge the Chancellor and PM to save jobs and firms. A return to the high unemployment of the 1980s is a price we must avoid paying.
Boost NHS pay
If the brightest and best of the “Covid generation” cannot be convinced to work for the NHS, medical care in our country will suffer in future.
England’s Chief Nursing Officer, Ruth May, is right to appeal to students getting their A-level results tomorrow to consider careers in the NHS.
But unions representing hundreds of thousands of existing staff are also right to call for better wages, after the Tories left nurses out of the public sector coronavirus pay rise.
NHS workers quitting in their droves tell us something is wrong in our most precious public service. If we want more people to join, the Government must treat them better.
Puppies’ victory
Parliament debating the Mirror’s campaign to ban puppy imports is a big win in the fight to stop a vile trade.
Thank you to everyone who signed the petition, which smashed its 100,000 target.
It proves that if people work together we can make a difference and affect real change.
