As I said, the whole fabric of conservative economics is being dismantled and they are terrified of this more than the virus itself.

If we can just create £350bn out of nothing, why did we have 10 years of austerity which led to the premature deaths of 100,000 poor people?

Why not solve the homeless crisis by paying for them  to stay at the Barclay Brother owned Ritz , which is empty?

Originally Posted by: The Beast from the East 

The earth shakes as 100,000 children jump for joy in unison LOL!

Originally Posted by: westv 

But cant you just keep doing it to keep the system going forever?

Originally Posted by: The Beast from the East 

F#cking idiot sources and f#cking idiot journalists reporting this.

Don't these tools realize the reason Italy locked down is because people escaped the Lombardy quarantine.

Originally Posted by: Quantum 

What an absolute selfish gobshite that's 168 bog rolls when there's people desperate (in more ways than one) because of bulk buying & stockpiling.

Originally Posted by: Saint Snow 

There is apparently a convoy of army trucks heading down the A13 to London.

Originally Posted by: Heavy Weather 2013 

It is absolutely true - because the Lombardy lockdown leaked 24 hours in advance, thousands left for the south and now the epidemic is increasing there, just as it is finally decreasing in northern Italy.

Originally Posted by: Maunder Minimum 

I agree but the government has been abysmal:

1) Schools should have been closed days ago. Everyone knew it was coming.

2) Khan should have been invited to the governments meetings sooner - once he was added it was obvious extreme measures were under discussion in London

On a slightly different note the NHS has been oversold for years by all three political parties. Our failure to have a grown up discussion about health provision is a source of national shame.

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

There is apparently a convoy of army trucks heading down the A13 to London.

Originally Posted by: Heavy Weather 2013 

There is nothing stopping a central bank from simply "printing" new money and NOT counting it as borrowing. The problem as you suggest is inflation but that is also dependent on how fast the money circulates in the system. One problem I see is we could end-up - for a time - a little like the Soviet Union where there is plenty of "money" but nothing to buy with it. A black market could well spring up where people are buying products with other means than £s.  

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

Being widely reported now:

London braced for coronavirus 'lockdown' as restrictions face being tightened

Multiple sources told the Mirror they expect restrictions to be tightened in the capital. Exact measures and timing are not yet known - but emergency laws will soon allow the government to shut venues and restrict travel if needed

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/london-braced-coronavirus-lockdown-restrictions-21714419?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

The most serious situation to face the UK in 75 years and we have the least serious leader since Krusty’s Krazy Circus. Brilliant.

Originally Posted by: Rob K 

Because the currency is only a representation of the trade of Labour and produce. If you just print money to temporaily redistribute the wealth an inevitable consequence of that is people start to lose confidence in the currency.

There isn't a magic money tree, borrowing from the future is going to have consequences in the future.

Originally Posted by: Quantum 

But if nothing is done we will see massive deflation as wealth is wiped out as businesses go bust.  Which is the lesser evil?  A slump and huge levels of unemployment or a bout of inflation.

My knowledge of economics is a little rusty but does filling a void caused by huge numbers of people suddenly not spending money have to lead to uncontrolled inflation?

Originally Posted by: Gandalf The White 

Because the NHS is our damn national religion. In the US it's guns, in Italy it's pasta and in Sweeden it's gender pronouns. Here it's the godawful 3rd world excuse for healthcare that seems about the only thing it's politically acceptable to have national pride in despite it being the inside joke of the rest of christendom.

Originally Posted by: Quantum 

You can see that even his smirk seems to have disappeared these days, it's because he knows that (unlike with Brexit) he cannot easily bullsh1t himself out of this crisis. He will still try of course, the scientists will probably be the first to be scapegoated.

Originally Posted by: xioni2 

Having just had a close relative spend time in intensive care and helped to full recovery from a life threatening condition by an absolutely fantastic team in the NHS, I find your comment above even worse than the usual garbage that come from your keyboard 

Originally Posted by: Steve