We’re moving to a situation when most of the major English conurbations will be living under substantial restrictions in one form or another but with less national support than in spring. Beyond Treasury concerns about cost, it isn’t immediately obvious why that’s the case.
Treasury will point to the idea that restrictions are less severe than spring. But just because all businesses aren’t forced to close doesn’t mean restrictions aren’t a body blow. The signal alone has an effect on economic activity and banning inter household mixing...
...isn’t much removed from forcing them to close, as it removes so much opportunity for trade.
To put it another way, roughly half of England’s population will soon be living under heightened restrictions (all of it under some restriction or another if you include rule of 6) but the eligibility for economic support will be much more limited than it was before.
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