Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- Bank of England, ECB and Turkey’s central bank meetings today
- Hospitality calls for more support from Omicron hit
- Cut back on socialising, says Whitty, as he predicts surge of hospitalisation
- As cost of food and fuel soars, is there an appetite to raise UK interest rates?
Theatre director Sir Nicholas Hytner warned last night that venues were in “crisis mode”, with shows closing as actors and other staff contracted coronavirus while bookings have “fallen off a cliff”.
The former artistic director of the National Theatre told BBC Newsnight:
“We now surely don’t want to get into a situation where the Government’s investment last year is wasted because the sectors that it has supported collapse in the new year.
“We need to see short term finance, we need to see loans, we need to see VAT looked at again, we need to see business rates looked at again.”
“Undoubtedly there will be many places that close their doors for Christmas and don’t reopen.”
