31st May 2020

That ain't workin', that's the way you do it

How does that song go, ‘Money for nothing and your cheques for free?

Is this why so many may not be happy to return to work? 

What is going on, mortgage holiday for 6 months (now as recommended by the FCA) credit card payment holidays, car finance payment holiday, state sponsored paid furlough, self -employed income support, business grants and more (I am sure I must have forgotten something here).

With all this is on offer, why even bother thinking about a return to work? 

When the time for ‘learnings’ arrives, I am sure that blame will be laid at the wrong targets for reputational preservation and no lessons learned at all. In fact, right now there will be various civil servants and ministers doing their very best to make sure career saving blame is laid at someone else’s door. In fact, listening to the weeks news I think it is already happening.

BTW, ‘learnings’ in today’s Covid19 world is a word that you and I might have lengthened to a phrase such as ‘WTF happened’!

We do not need any more ‘free money’ holidays. Let’s get back to work now UKplc and earn the money.

Large, City based institutions in particular, need to get back!

If thought has not been given, do think of all of those ‘Remora’ businesses, especially the SME’s that depend on these big firms being back at their desks. Think of shops, restaurant’s, health clubs, bars, support services like drivers, couriers. The list is endless and not all may get the government bailouts. 

In keeping bigger businesses ‘working from home safe’ the result is the destruction of thousands of smaller business who rely on the support of those bigger firms in normal times for their income in return for services. 

In late summer or early Autumn reality will hit for millions with social distancing and catching a virus will be the least of their worries. 

No free money by way of mortgage payment holiday, no car loan, rent and credit card payment holidays any more will see a stampede to get back to work only to find that the job they have been collecting money from the state for passing a monthly salary ‘go’ is no longer there. 

It has entered the world of Monty Python’s Dead Parrot.

‘No,no, he's not lost his job, he's on furlough'!  

I recall that after a long exchange the sketch morphed into ‘Well! I never wanted to do this job in the first place. I wanted to be... a lumberjack! 

And we all know how that ended up.

How did that phrase go from another great former Prime Minister…? Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few?

I think in today’s lockdown world this should read “Never in the field of infection prevention will so much be owed by so many to protect so few”?

That debt could be as much as £298bn* just for this financial year (April 2020 to April 2021), according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which keeps tabs on government spending. This harsh reality puts this debt as some £8.67m per life lost or £4,447 per head of population?

And that really is Dire Straights.

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