The UK’s economy is set to come roaring back as the country gradually moves beyond lockdown restrictions.
The news, reported by The Workers Union last week, that economic activity will surge this year has been backed by fresh predictions from the Bank of England.
Setting out its forecasts for growth in 2021, the bank estimates that UK gross domestic product (GDP) will expand by 7.25 percent – up 2.5 percent from the figures it published in February.
This would represent the swiftest increase since the Second World War, when the country’s production capacity was pushed to its extremes.
However, the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, sounded a note of caution, arguing that the lingering threat of Coronavirus and two years of lost growth must be taken into consideration: ‘Let’s not get carried away. It takes us back by the end of this year to the level of output we had essentially at the end of 2019 pre-Covid. So that is good news in the context of where we’ve been, but it still means that two years of output growth have been lost to date,’ he said.
‘So I would give this a balanced message: there is good news, clearly very good news given what we’ve been through. But let’s put it into perspective.’
The news will be especially welcome in Whitehall, where the furlough scheme and the government’s handling of the vaccine rollout has been largely vindicated.
The Workers Union on Economic Recovery
The last year has been a grim time for everybody. People have struggled with isolation, losing loved ones and uncertainties at work. The news that the economy is set for a period of turbo quick growth is therefore as welcome as it is overdue.
It shows that there was merit in providing people with financial safety nets as their businesses were forced to close. It shows that the country was right to back working people with the furlough scheme.
Now we face a choice: do we pick up where we left off or do we try and broker a new settlement?
The answer should be obvious. With so many people enduring so much, it would be a travesty to squander this opportunity to redefine our relationship with each other and the country in which we live. So let’s get on with the job of levelling up the regions of this great nation, and forge a new path to prosperity.
The Worker’s Union – fighting for social justice, fighting for you
