The Reader: Economy must be put back on a sound footing

Results day is always nerve-wracking and emotional. But this year’s teenagers navigating a pandemic, face whole new stresses.
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14 August 2020
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We can no longer hope for a V-shaped recovery and must brace ourselves for the challenges ahead. The Government must focus on a long-term economic strategy to put the UK back on a sustainable, sound footing and tackle the systemic challenges which this crisis has only exacerbated (for example regional imbalance and weak social mobility).

The Government must deliver support in key areas including cutting employers’ national insurance bills to help keep people employed and create new jobs, skills training in jobs and sectors with real-wage growth potential, and measures to support SMEs and start-ups, such as creating a new Growth Accelerator Scheme.
Andrew Harding, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

Turn difficulty into opportunity

Amid headlines such as “730,000 jobs lost since pandemic” [News, Aug 11], we are being inundated with worried students and their parents looking for answers.

The most important advice in a crisis is to “use the difficulty”. Prospective employers are looking for candidates who can demonstrate their capability, imagination and passion. Let us remember that some of Britain’s best known leaders started with absolutely nothing. Don’t give up.
Ronel Lehmann, Chief executive, Finito Education Limited

Editor's reply

Dear Andrew and Ronel

There is tentative progress today as more lockdown measures are eased and Rishi Sunak makes an appeal to Londoners to give the economy the kickstart it needs. We must also be realistic and acknowledge that it’s an uncertain time — living with ambiguity can be excrutiating, on a personal and socioeconomic level. We will get through this but it needs a clever strategy to tackle the weaknesses this virus has exposed.
Susannah Butter, Comment Editor

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