Pressure to impose a national lockdown in England is mounting as the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb and more than a dozen areas are due to move into a higher level of restrictions.
Yesterday, government scientific adviser Dr Mike Tildesley warned “some kind of national lockdown” or “circuit-breaker” would have more effect than the government’s current three-tier system.
Ministers seemed at odds over the suggestion, with home secretary Priti Patel saying the government would not rule anything out, while communities secretary Robert Jenrick said they would “try everything in our power” to avoid a “blanket national lockdown”.
– Banks charge £65m for loan scheme
Britain’s biggest lenders charged the government more than £65m in interest in just three months to provide loans to British businesses during the pandemic.
The government handed over £65,658,583 for interest on loans between the start of April and the end of June, according to figures obtained by PA news agency through a freedom of information request.
The interest was paid on loans taken under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and for the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, which lent billions of pounds to small businesses.
