I was astounded to read Larry Elliott’s suggestion that “Eat out to help out” was a bad idea only “with the benefit of hindsight”, when its main effect, felt acutely across the country, was to broadcast the end of a coordinated government response (It’s easy to condemn ‘eat out to help out’, but Sunak’s motivations were justified, 14 December). Instead, we were given the first hint of Rishi Sunak’s backdoor neoliberalism: handed back our taxes and told to go to the pub – or not – while the market would magically sort everything out. The announcement immediately changed the discourse from “have you heard the latest guidelines?” to “what rules are you still sticking to?”. It made it clear that the government was fractured, with parts of it no longer interested in a collective approach or taking aboard expert advice. We were on our own.
There was no justification for the Treasury to join in with its own crazy ideas. Yes, crazy. Viruses spread when we interact. Locking down reduces interactions. We all know pandemics are bad for the economy, but that does not make it “right” or “valid” for the Treasury to fly in the face of public health advice in the middle of a pandemic.
Michael Clerx
Sheffield
