Top economists, business groups and hospitality sector bosses toasted the government’s decision to scrap further plans for Covid-19 curbs, acknowledging the move as a sign that Britain’s economy is getting back to being fully functional. It raised hope among experts that the hold that the Covid-19 and accompanying restrictions on daily life has had on the state of the economy is coming to an end.
Director of policy at the Institute of Directors, Roger Barker, said: “This is an economy that wants to grow and the lifting of these restrictions is a welcome step to helping that to happen.” Further to that came comments from the chief executive of pub group Greene King: “It’s great news that we’re on the road to recovery as the Prime Minister has decided to roll back plans (for restrictions) and we hope that this gives the public a confidence boost to get back out and socialise.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that restricting measures, including guidance to work from home will be scrapped in England immediately while mandatory mask wearing in public indoor spaces and Covid-19 certificates for attending large events will be axed from this week. The easing of working from home advice will be a boon for central London retail and hospitality businesses, after they suffered from lower footfall over the usual Christmas period.
The easing of restrictions was warmly welcomed by business groups with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) saying “businesses will be hopeful that we are finally starting to turn the corner on Covid-19.
However, mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said he would still require people to wear face masks on public transport. It comes as Covid-19 numbers continue to fall in the UK, while there is also evidence that hospitalisations are beginning to drop. There are fewer patients in intensive care now than there were before the Omicron wave.
GDP figures for November published last week by the Office for National Statistics showed the UK economy is now larger than it was before the pandemic struck, underlining the upward trajectory the recovery was on before the imposition of curbs in early December.
Separate research by Lloyds also released last week also shows the economy largely shrugged off the impact of Omicron and is set to power ahead after a mild blip at the beginning of the year.
Although experts in the financial district of London expect December and January’s official GDP figures to dip due to a pull back in consumer confidence and tighter pandemic measures in December in particular, most economists are feeling confident on the economy recovering to pre-Omicron levels by March.
Pantheon Macroeconomics, a consultancy, have increased their forecast for first quarter GDP growth to 0.2 per cent up from zero. However, experts cautioned that future policy decisions on how to deal with Covid-19 need to be guided by consistent principles to allow businesses to plan with firm beliefs.
National chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, Mike Cherry, said: “After two years of chopping and changing, small businesses right across England will be hoping that this marks the beginning of a final winding down of trading restrictions.” Barker added: “After almost two years of restrictions associated with the pandemic, businesses are desperate to get back to some degree of normality as soon as is feasible.” Chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association. Emma McClarkin, called on the government to urgently set out its plans “for living with Covid as an endemic disease” to help get the country’s drinking holes back on their feet.”
The writer is our foreign correspondent based in the UK
