News
UK economy officially in recession
The UK economy has shrunk by 20.4% between April and June, when the coronavirus lockdown was at its most severe. Experts say the downturn brought on by the pandemic led to the biggest fall in quarterly GDP on record.
The UK on Wednesday officially fell into recession for the first time in 11 years. The economy collapsed by a record 20.4% in the second quarter, compared to the first quarter, as a result of coronavirus lockdown measures imposed to contain the outbreak, agency reports said.
Between April and June, household spending plunged as businesses were ordered to shut down, while industries such as construction rolled back on output and production.
“The recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has led to the biggest fall in quarterly GDP on record,” Jonathan Athow of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Data from the ONS showed that the UK economy had a 2.2% quarterly contraction in the first three months of the year.
The technical definition of a recession is two straight quarters of economic decline.
The economic decline was concentrated in April — the peak of lockdown.
The ONS said the economy bounced back in June as the government started to relax coronavirus restrictions.
Non-essential retailers in England, including clothes shops and bookshops, reopened their doors on June 15.
“The economy began to bounce back in June with shops reopening, factories beginning to ramp up production and house-building continuing to recover,” Athow said. But “Despite this, gross domestic product (GDP) in June still remains a sixth below its level in February, before the virus struck,” he added.
The UK’s service sector, which makes up four fifths of the economy, suffered the biggest quarterly decline on record. Car manufacturing, meanwhile, faced its slowest production rate since 1955.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak warned that the economic slump would lead to further job losses in the coming months.
“Today’s figures confirm that hard times are here,” Sunak said. “Hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their jobs, and sadly, in the coming months many more will.”
Some 1.2 million employers have taken advantage of the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to furlough 9.6 million people at a cost to the government of 33.8 billion pounds ($44 billion, €38 billion).
Sunak said he is ending the program in October because it gives “false hope” to furloughed workers and hinders them from getting new jobs as their skills decline.
The UK’s recession is deeper than those recorded by comparable countries such as the US and other European economies, notably Germany and France.
Germany’s governing coalition in June agreed on a €130 billion stimulus package to help pull the country’s economy out of recession. The government hoped the package would ease Germans’ financial strain and boost consumer spending.
In comparison to other European countries, Germany’s almost one month of lockdown was relatively short. But the German economy still went into recession in the first quarter of 2020.
Unemployment in May rose from 5.8% to 6.3%, figures which could have been higher if it were not for Germany’s “kurzarbeit” program, a wage subsidy scheme that allows struggling companies to decrease employees’ working hours instead of making them redundant.
He was examining security officer’s new weapon while waiting for his wife to join him on a morning walk
Friday’s shock death of former IGP Chandana Wickramaratne due to gunshot injuries on his chest was possibly due to an accidental discharge of his personal security officer’s (PSO’s) pistol. Wickramaratne, who was kitted for his walk and waiting on the verandah for his wife to join him, was examining the PSO’s new weapon, knowledgeable sources said.
These sources said the wife who was putting on her shoes inside the house heard a bang and found Wickramaratne fallen on the verandah.
The retired IGP had noticed the security officer carrying a new weapon and had asked to examine it. Saying he carried a similar weapon years ago, he found no magazine and said, “are you planning to accompany me on my walk with a pistol without a magazine?”
The PSO had then handed the loaded magazine and gone into the house to fetch a requested bottle of water when the weapon had gone off.
The sources said that Wickramaratne was in no way depressed and had attended an Ananda College old boy’s event a few days ago, had dinner with friends and chatted with them. He had an appointment to meet a friend on Saturday.
Friends and family saw no reason for Wickramaratne to take his own life and there was no evidence whatever of an external agent shooting him. The former IGP was pronounced dead at the Colombo East Teaching Hospital to which he was rushed.
Police said investigations were proceeding and an autopsy report was awaited.
Wickramaratne was appointed the 35th Inspector General on November 25, 2020 and retired three years later in 2023. He had also set a record as the longest serving acting IGP since his naming to that position in May 2019 after his predecessor Pujith Jayasundara was sent on compulsory leave.
He joined as a trainee Assistant Superintendent in June 1986 after graduating from the Colombo University. He was absorbed to the National Intelligence Bureau where he worked till 1995. Thereafter he reverted to the uniform service and had been posted across the country, including the northern and eastern areas at the height of the war.
Former Colombo Mayor Rosy Senanayake appeared before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate allegations of corruption and fraud at the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) on Friday (17).
Speaking to the media after appearing before the commission, Senanayake said she had been summoned to provide information regarding a food voucher programme implemented during her tenure as Mayor amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis.
She said the programme, carried out through state-owned Lanka Sathosa, was introduced to provide assistance to low-income and vulnerable families affected by the economic hardships during the period.
“We gave food vouchers from Sathosa to the poor during the pandemic and economic crisis.
They wanted answers to some questions they had regarding the programme,” Senanayake said.The Presidential Commission is currently investigating allegations relating to financial irregularities, corruption and other misconduct within the Colombo Municipal Council.
A police constable has been suspended from service following an inquiry into allegations that he sat on the lap of a female police constable while under the influence of alcohol at the Makalugaswewa Police Station.
Police said the constable had reported for duty at a musical concert held at the Dambulla Gam Udawa Stadium on July 15 and later returned to the police station to resume duties.
According to initial reports, the constable allegedly sat on the female officer’s lap after seeing her seated on a chair at the station.
The female police constable subsequently lodged a complaint with the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in charge of the area through the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the police station.
A preliminary investigation into the incident found that the constable had allegedly been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.
Following the inquiry into the alleged harassment of the female officer and the constable’s conduct while on duty, police authorities took steps to suspend his service pending further action.
by Norman Palihawadane ✍️
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