Day: 20 May 2020

The Telegraph's Business section leads on Rishi Sunack's warning to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee yesterday that the country is facing "a severe recession, the likes of which we haven't seen". That red line shooting beyond Sunack's nose is the number of unemployment claims triggered by different financial shocks dating back to 1970 – and the 857,000 new claimants in shown on the graph for 2020 is just for the month of April. The Telegraph points out this is the biggest surge in benefit claims since 1947. The same point was made more bluntly on Channel 4 News last night by former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith. "The longer we stay on lockdown, the more companies will go bankrupt," he said. The Express has the same story, as does the FT, which quotes the Chancellor warning the Committee that the economy may not "immediately bounce back". No shit, Sunack. Excess Cancer Deaths Likely to Increase as Result of Lockdown The Edinburgh Evening News looks at just one of many human tragedies caused by the response to the virus – the story of Dalkeith mother-of-one Karen Hilton, whose life expectancy has been cut from 12 months to six after cancer trials were halted as doctors prioritised patients with COVID-19. Karen, 48, who has already had to cancel her wedding ...