Predicted recession “a national disgrace”
Ablrate’s chief executive David Bradley-Ward has blamed Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s stark warning about the economy on the government’s own coronavirus response.
Yesterday (19 May), Sunak told a House of Lords committee that the nation is facing a severe recession and lasting damage from the pandemic. He said that it is not obvious there will be an immediate bounceback of the economy and it may take time for it to recover to pre-Covid-19 levels.
Meanwhile, new figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose by almost 69 per cent in a single month to reach almost 2.1 million in April.
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“I think British businesses have a way of adapting but if we enter into a recession, that’s due to Rishi Sunak’s poor management of the economy,” said Bradley-Ward (pictured).
“He didn’t get CBILS out early enough and quick enough. He has pumped out over £22bn out of the £330bn he promised, which is a not a great record, and is in fact a national disgrace.
“Businesses would have already applied, and the indications are many haven’t received funding and Sunak is a contributor to this. If he had got the £330bn out to businesses quicker, we’d have had much a softer landing than we do have.
“And if you are high-growth fintech P2P business you will probably only qualify for the £50,000 bounce back loans.”
Bradley-Ward added: “this isn’t just a health crisis, it’s an economic crisis.”
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