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Good morning,
First and foremost, I hope you and your families are happy and healthy. The coronavirus pandemic is, of course, a public health emergency so I hope you are managing to get by during this period of lockdown and social distancing.
But the public health response has led to profound economic decisions, with taxpayers asked to step in and support never-before-seen government interventions.
These are quite extraordinary times - the financial crisis of 2008 was by far the biggest economic event of my life, but the response to this crisis towers above it.
Yesterday morning, we posted a response from the TPA to our website. You can read it in full here. We have also published some additional policy recommendations for the government - click here to read our briefing note. We think that bold measures, like diverting aid spending to fight the virus, will be needed to start helping the government to map a course to sound public finances in the coming years
Having spoken to many of our supporters on the phone over the last fortnight, I know many share our acceptance that significant intervention was necessary, with the private sector essentially told to shut down for the immediate future.
But I also know many people, including MPs and businesspeople, share our outlook on the response - it may be necessary, but it must be temporary.
The public finances will need a major repair job over the coming years. That challenge can be met in several ways, but we know that much higher taxes will be the easy answer that many politicians turn to.
We have to fight against that.
Debt levels will need to be brought back down rapidly but we must make the case for growth-enhancing measures and spending restraint. Supply-side repairs will be critical, given this will be a supply-side recession, not one that is demand-lead.
But we must also continue to stand by our long-held principles, unafraid to call out wasteful spending and unnecessary public sector largesse. Yes, we may need to spend more money now, but we mustn't write blank cheques for any longer than we need to.
Those who carry on working to help us through this crisis - in both the public and private sectors - will be celebrated for their efforts. But we must also applaud taxpayers for once again providing the means necessary to fight the pandemic. It’s the hard work, the innovation, the risk-taking of millions of Brits that puts money in the coffers to protect others.
Finally, an appeal: please continue to support the TPA during these difficult times. The TPA team is working as hard as ever from home, putting together all of the research, the press work, the digital campaigning and more that you’ll see throughout the rest of 2020. We’ve switched our regular team meetings to conference calls and are staying on top of group projects through messaging apps.
A good thing, too - because we need to be there to help pick up the pieces from these shattering events. As ever, we will be the voice of taxpayers in the corridors of power that will be so desperately needed in the coming years.
If you can, please do continue to support our work.
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