News / Economy

Chancellor Rishi Sunak reinforces PM’s message on lockdown exit

Sunday, 28 February 2021 4:47 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 28 February 2021 4:49 PM ]

Rishi Sunak is going out of his way to stay on-message with his bosse's so-called "roadmap" out of the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has once again reinforced Boris Johnson’s message of a slow and steady exit from the third national lockdown.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak admits to ‘enormous strains’ to post-lockdown economy

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has warned of tough economic times ahead even as he tries to reinforce Boris Johnson

Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday show, the Chancellor asserted that the “last thing” businesses needed at this stage was a “stop, start” return to “normal life”.

Sunak was overly keen to stress that the so-called “road map” set out by Johnson on February 22 was the appropriately “cautious but irreversible approach” to exiting the lockdown and associated social and economic restrictions.

“What businesses don’t want is a stop-start approach to this [lockdown exit], we want to know that it’s a one-way road and that’s why it’s cautious”, Sunak told Ridge.

"We've given the earliest of dates to give a sense of timing and a sense of direction and then obviously we might have to adjust those if things are not going exactly as we would like, but look the early signs are promising", the Chancellor added.

Sunak also claimed there was a “sense of confidence and optimism about the future”.

The Chancellor’s appearance on Sky News comes on the heels of his interview with the Financial Times (February 26), in which he warned of “enormous strains” to Britain’s post-lockdown economy.

On both occasions Sunak has tried to reinforce Johnson’s message of a slow and steady return to normalcy by the end of June while at the same time appearing cautious about the pace of the post-lockdown economic recovery.