Coronavirus lockdown is costing Britain £2.4billion a DAY with young workers and women the worst hit

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Coronavirus lockdown is costing Britain £2.4billion a DAY with young workers and women the worst hit… amid rumours of a Cabinet rift over when to end restrictions

  • Britain’s coronavirus lockdown is costing the economy £2.4billion a day, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research
  • Report lays bare the ‘extremely severe consequences’ of social distancing rules
  • Manufacturing was suffering the most, with the inactivity costing the economy £500million a day, while hospitality is haemorrhaging £172million a day
  • It follows reports that the Government is split over the current lockdown policy 

By Matt Oliver and Daniel Martin for the Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

The astonishing cost of the virus lockdown was revealed last night as economists put the bill at £2.4billion a day, with national output slashed by a devastating 31 per cent.

Factories, shops, restaurants, hotels and builders have been hit worst because their employees are unable to work remotely, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

The think-tank’s report lays bare the ‘extremely severe consequences’ of strict social distancing rules and raises questions over how long lockdown can be justified when the damage to the economy is so grave.

Downing Street has denied claims of a rift between Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Chancellor Rishi Sunak over when restrictions should end.

A view of a deserted Regent Street in central London during the coronavirus crisis

Homeless people continue to sleep on the streets of London and the West End despite efforts to get them into emergency accommodation during the coronavirus pandemic

Homeless people continue to sleep on the streets of London and the West End despite efforts to get them into emergency accommodation during the coronavirus pandemic

Police patrol the streets of Glasgow as the UK endures another week of coronavirus lockdown

Police patrol the streets of Glasgow as the UK endures another week of coronavirus lockdown

Yesterday, Mr Hancock insisted the rules were ‘mission critical’ to slow the spread of the contagion, even warning he may have to ban exercise after people flouted orders to stay at home.

But former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith claimed the economy could take only a few more weeks of lockdown before it was damaged beyond repair.

The CEBR’s findings will stoke concerns about a prolonged lockdown, after one of Boris Johnson’s advisers claimed it could do more harm than the virus itself.

London's Regent Street and Oxford Circus are deserted during the coronavirus lockdown

London’s Regent Street and Oxford Circus are deserted during the coronavirus lockdown

The streets of Whitby remain empty during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown

The streets of Whitby remain empty during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown

Police patrol the streets and the beach in Tynemouth during the coronavirus lockdown

Police patrol the streets and the beach in Tynemouth during the coronavirus lockdown

Professor Graham Medley said the trade-off between protecting the most vulnerable and helping the wider population was being ‘increasingly considered’.

Bank of England governor says he will not order printing money to fund a surge in Government spending amid coronavirus battle 

By Rory Butler for MailOnline 

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said he will oppose calls for the bank to simply start printing money to fund a surge in government spending during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Writing in the FT on Sunday, Bailey said monetary financing during the coronavirus pandemic would result in an ‘unsustainable’ central bank balance sheet.

He added the calls were ‘incompatible’ with the pursuit of a 2 per cent inflation target. In March, when the Covid-19 impact set in on British business, the Bank of England increased its bond-buying programme by a record £200billion.

The economic measures were similar to that of the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, as central banks tried to prevent huge recession.

The short-term disruption from the lockdown is pushing many businesses to the brink, the CEBR warned. Daryn Park, one of the think-tank’s researchers, said: ‘These companies employ people who cannot do their jobs from home – so their economic output is effectively zero.’

The CEBR said manufacturing was suffering the most, with the inactivity costing the economy £500million a day. The hospitality sector is also haemorrhaging £172million a day, construction £237million and non-grocery retailers around £156million.

Mr Hancock later clarified his position to say an exercise ban would not be happening imminently. He also denied rumours of a rift with the Chancellor, saying: ‘We’re working very closely together.’

Experts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said their analysis of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic suggested that areas with strict social distancing measures recovered more quickly. 

They said ‘anecdotal’ evidence also showed Taiwan and Singapore may have avoided the worst economic disruption by taking strong measures early on in the fight against this pandemic.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said younger and lower-paid workers would be hurt most by the lockdown as they often worked in hospitality. 

Women were also more likely to suffer.