Express & Star comment: Astronomical price tag comes with coronavirus

Beyond the 100,000-plus lives lost – and those that will be lost between now and the time when we truly defeat the virus – and beyond the loss of liberty, there will be a financial price to pay. Frankly, it will be astronomical – beyond anything that any of us have experienced in our lives. There will be years of economic struggle to get over the effects.

However, we make no apologies for striking an upbeat note. While acknowledging the loss of business and gainful employment, new opportunities will arise. The British public has the opportunity to reinvent the economy, to move towards green industries and those in the technological sector, in addition to services and manufacturing.

There is the opportunity to think outside the box, to reinvent shopping centres to take into account the closing of physical shops and the new uses that will emerge for such premises. Our towns will look very different in years to come as there is a move towards combined leisure and residential uses and there is a boom in the night time economy. We must also reflect on this: however hard the UK has been hit by Covid-19, we are not alone. Economies around the world have been similarly affected and are looking for ways to rebound. It is the global economy that is affected, rather than just national economies. All countries have similar challenges and we need to ensure that the UK is ahead of the curve in its recovery.

The Government must now be shaping priorities for the coming decades. It must find ways to recoup the money it has borrowed to fund grants and furlough. That, however, should not come at the expense of punitive tax rises, which the nation can ill afford. Then there is Boris’s pledge to level-up those regions, including the West Midlands, that have faced years of neglect and stagnation. It is time for the Government to make good on its promise of a post-Brexit landscape featuring sunlit uplands. The nation is waiting.