Inside Politics: Rishi Sunak wages economic war on coronavirus

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It’s Covid-19’s world. We just live in it. The last group of human beings in blissful ignorance of the coronavirus – 14 Big Brother contestants in Germany – were finally told last night what’s going on outside. The last time the BB bubble was burst this way was 9/11. Boris Johnson may dearly wish to return to a pre-virus state of innocence, but our painful reality show continues. The PM has put his government on wartime footing, promising to do whatever it takes to get the economy through the worst. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Inside the bubble

Our political commentator Andrew Grice on what to look out for at Westminster today:

Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of C-19, a new group to which four committees handling the response to the coronavirus will report, chaired by Rishi Sunak, Michael Gove, Matt Hancock and Dominic Raab. PMQs will provide an interesting test of whether the cross-party support for the government’s handling of the crisis is fracturing, since Jeremy Corbyn has become increasingly critical of it. And there is the now-daily press conference at No 10 later this afternoon.

Daily briefing

STIMULATING FELLOW: It was only two weeks ago Boris Johnson was telling us he shook hands with coronavirus patients. Now he and his team are ready to “act like any wartime government”. How things change. Just ask Rishi Sunak. The 39-year-old chancellor offered a reassuring presence at the latest No 10 press conference, unleashing a huge, emergency stimulus package of £330bn in loans, funding grants of £10,000 and £25,000 for small businesses, a break from business rates, and a three-month mortgage holiday. And more help is “on the way,” Sunak promised. “We have never in peacetime faced an economic fight like this one.” Unions questioned the lack of measures for the self-employed and others working in the gig economy, while Labour asked why homeowners are the first to get assistance. Jeremy Corbyn said: “Millions of people rent in the UK. Suspend rents. Ban evictions. Now.”

SOME FRONT: Johnson is said to have told his cabinet: “We are engaged in a war against the disease which we have to win.” But the battle with the virus hasn’t yet led to a shift in perspective towards our allies in the EU. With trade deal negotiations off for now, a government spokesperson insisted there was no plan to extend the transition period. Labour MP Stephen Kinnock was among the those in the Commons urging the foreign secretary Dominic Raab to think again: “Rather than trying to fight this war on two fronts … surely the time is now coming to request an extension to the transition period?” Raab replied: “We are confident that we can get this done.” Hmmm. Raab also urged us to avoid non-essential international travel for the next 30 days. But the government still faces a decision on whether to take part in the EU’s travel ban. European Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen has invited the UK to join the strict controls on people trying to enter the EU.

POWERS THAT BE: Health secretary Matt Hancock unveiled the sweeping emergency legislation the government hopes will cover the most extreme measures in the weeks ahead. Police and immigration officials will be allowed to detain infected people and place them in “appropriate isolation facilities”. The Border Force could suspend operations at airports, and ministers would have the power to force schools to close. Speaking of which, teaching unions wish the government would just hurry up and get on with it. The leader of the head teachers’ union said many schools would struggle to keep running past Friday since so many staff members are self-isolating. The emergency legislation will also allow restaurants and pubs to operate as takeaway and delivery businesses immediately. A small change but a good one. An even bigger shift might see some public transport services nationalised temporarily. Secretary of state Grant Shapps told the response to the drop-off in passengers could involve “organisations being run by the public sector”.

I FEEL THE NEED FOR MEAD: Fathers don’t like following their sons’ orders very much, do they? The PM’s papa appears to hate it. The latest twist in the Sophoclean family saga saw Stanley Johnson go on ITV’s This Morning and declare: “Of course I’d go to the pub if I needed to go the pub” – in defiance of the explicit guidance given by his son on Monday. “Why would you need to go to the pub?” asked Holly Willoughby. A flustered Johnson Snr. said landlords “need a little bit of people … they don’t want people to not be in the pub at all”. Elsewhere, it all got a bit much for the Conservative MP for Mid Derbyshire. Pauline Latham was forced to apologise after she told a constituent worried about the low level of statutory sick pay ​available during the outbreak to “get a life”. The Tory MP explained the Twitter outburst had been caused by a “state of distress”, after visiting her brother, suffering from acute dementia. The constituent later said they were “sorry to hear” about Latham’s brother. Nice. Small acts of kindness and all that.

VENTILATOR BLUES: Johnson is understood to have set industrialists a target of producing 30,000 new ventilators within the next two weeks during his call with about 60 top manufacturers earlier this week. According to The Times, he urged them all to remember Apollo 13 rescue mission, and suggested they think of their own mission as “Operation Last Gasp”. One person who participated in the call told Politico said the PM “couldn’t help but act the clown”. Johnson was asked about the “last gasp” remark at the last press conference, but ignored the question completely. Meanwhile, Sir Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, told MPs the health service currently has 6,699 of the life-saving, mechanical ventilators, while another 750 paediatric models could possibly be repurposed.

On the record

“This struggle will not be overcome by a single package of measures ... It will be won through a collective national effort.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak

From the Twitterati

“It’s genuinely galling to see the *Prime Minister’s father* being given a platform on national television to tell us all that he intends to ignore his son’s advice to the public and do what he wants anyway. This isn’t a joke.”

SNP MP Stewart McDonald isn’t happy about Stanley Johnson’s appearance on This Morning…

“Phillip Schofield bemoans the amount of disinformation online, having just had 79-year-old Stanley Johnson on This Morning saying he’d go to the pub.”

…and TV critic Toby Earle thinks ITV should choose better guests.

Essential reading

Ben Chu, The Independent: Does coronavirus mean the time has come for a Universal Basic Income?

Tom Peck, The Independent: Rishi Sunak is the star of the latest coronavirus show – but the Johnson family can’t help but add some drama

Ailbhe Rhe, New Statesman: How should opposition parties respond to the coronavirus crisis?

Juliette Kayyem, The Atlantic: Trump leaves States to fend for themselves

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