Boris Johnson preparing ‘Great Recovery Bill’ to get Britain’s economy moving again

Boris Johnson is drawing up a ‘Great Recovery Bill’ to slash red tape and help get the economy moving again, and ministers have been told to submit ideas for reforms that would allow firms to adapt to the upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Government officials are also being asked to find ways of ensuring essential services can operate while social distancing remains in place.

The plans would be rolled together in a legislative agenda provisionally entitled the ‘Great Recovery Bill’. It will sit alongside a mini-budget, pencilled in for July, which is expected to include tax cuts to fuel consumer spending and business investment.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who is under pressure to temporarily lower VAT and stamp duty, is considering a national insurance holiday for employers to boost jobs.

As the official Covid-19 death toll passed 40,000 today, the Government said they were still aiming to ease a swathes of lockdown restrictions on businesses on June 15, with non-essential retail being allowed to open back up again.

Mr Johnson’s shake-up could include major reforms to the planning system to revive his ‘infrastructure revolution’, which has stalled during the lockdown. Ministers believe new housing, roads and broadband will be central to any recovery.

Plans to create a network of ‘freeports’, where normal tax and customs rules do not apply, are also set to be fast-tracked.

A Government source said: ‘Departments are being asked to identify the things they need to keep services going, but also the changes that would free up the economy and get business moving again once we start to open up.

‘The idea is to then put them all into one big piece of legislation that helps get the recovery going.’

The Prime Minister’s plan comes as:

• Questions were asked about whether the lockdown was ever necessary as another study suggested the outbreak was under control before the draconian measures were imposed on March 23; 
• Health Secretary Matt Hancock said all hospital patients, visitors and staff will have to wear masks from June 15, as it was revealed coronavirus cases fell by 30 per cent last week to 5,600 a day;
• He also urged people to stay away from George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protests across the country this weekend to avoid spreading the virus; 
• Tony Blair urged Number 10 to set up a mass testing programme which would see the bulk of the UK population checked for coronavirus as he suggested that is the only way to prevent a second outbreak;
• Fears of a second wave were sparked after Iran became the first country in the world to report another cluster of coronavirus infections after easing its lockdown;
• British Airways threatened legal action against the Government over its 14-day quarantine plan for travellers entering the UK;
• Half of Britons are shunning Chinese products and two-thirds would like the government to impose more tariffs on imports from the communist state, according to a poll;
• Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca revealed it is already manufacturing Oxford University’s experimental vaccine in India, the UK and Europe amid plans to distribute 2billion doses as early as September if it works;
• The anti-malarial drug hailed as a miracle virus cure by Donald Trump is ‘useless’, a British study concluded; 
• TV presenter Kate Garraway broke down in tears as she revealed critically-ill husband Derek Draper thanked her for ‘saving his life’ before he slipped into a coma during his 10-week battle with coronavirus.

Some of the red tape that ministers will target can be ditched without the need for primary legislation. They are already considering scrapping local authority fees for cafes and restaurants that want to put tables on the pavement.

But other changes will require primary legislation and have prompted the idea of a wide-ranging new law.

The Department for Education is assessing whether further legal changes may be needed to allow a full return to school in September, when social distancing is expected to make normal classes difficult.

And the Ministry of Justice is considering whether to allow juries to sit with fewer than 12 members in order to allow for social distancing in court.

The Prime Minister is calling for a ‘green recovery’ and new investment is expected in electric vehicles and battery technology to help the ailing car industry.

Government sources have indicated that despite the dire impact of the lockdown on the public finances, which could see the deficit soar to more than £300billion this year, Mr Sunak is keen to cut taxes.

One idea is a national insurance holiday for employers, which experts believe could save hundreds of thousands of jobs and stimulate investment.

But Mr Sunak is also under pressure to cut personal taxes to revive collapsed consumer demand and directly put money into the pockets of families.

Former Labour and Tory chancellors Lord Darling and Philip Hammond this week backed calls for a temporary VAT cut.

Mr Hammond said there was ‘no economic logic to increasing taxes in the short term’, adding: ‘The question is as we move more deeply into the recovery phase, there may be a need for some short-term fiscal stimulus to the economy and that could be delivered most obviously through tax cuts.’