the dramatic economic effect of the
lockdown was laid bare tonight with
figures showing that the UK economy
shrank by more than a fifth in April
that's the largest monthly contraction
ever recorded in our first full month in
lockdown the slump of 20.4% in economic
growth is three times larger than that
seen during the whole of the financial
crisis twelve years ago the Office for
National Statistics says it's affected
almost all areas of economic activity
with house building and car
manufacturing particularly badly hit the
UK is now on course for a recession
which is two consecutive quarters of
negative growth but analysts say that
April was likely to have been the worst
month our economics editor faisal islam
has this report a massive hit to the
economy is no surprise when streets are
silent shops are closed factories idle
and tens of billions of sales don't
happen because they cannot but such a
slump on this scale in one month isn't
just a record it was unimaginable and
way beyond any normal scale Marlo's ooh
one example of a leisure attraction
whose shut down during the pandemic is
seen in these numbers April had Easter
this year and so we were expecting about
70,000 guests to come here tomorrow well
to enjoy the zoo and in the end we've
got nobody at all so whilst we were
expecting about 1.8 million pounds in
terms of visitor income for that month
we didn't receive anything at all so
disastrous really April for us in April
the first full month of lockdown the
economy fell by just over 20 percent
losing a fifth of its total value it
means since the pandemic and the
lockdown began in March the UK economy
has lost a quarter of its value that's
the cliff in this chart making the
financial crisis in 2008 resemble a
small blip the question where do things
go from here for a dynamic creative
economy we depend so much on on human
contact aren't we having very hit badly
hit by by this but we're also amazingly
resilient and creative we will bounce
back there is a report that came out a
couple of days ago from the OECD that
group of industrialized nations and it
suggested that the drop in GDP for this
year for the UK would actually be worse
than for every other industrialized
nation so we're in a very very difficult
situation as a country in Oxfordshire an
airfield with tens of millions worth of
vehicles waiting for the showrooms to
sell again and in turn meaning the car
factories will be far from Full Tilt so
this is what those grim numbers look
like in reality up and down the country
storage areas airfields ports full of
unsold cars in April and 99.7% fall in
car sales the challenge now has locked
down just starts to ease this will it
actually return to normal
will these cars actually sell or is the
economy fundamentally damaged in Germany
they funded thousands of euros for new
purchases of green cars and slashed v80
as part of a massive second rescue
package here more support on its way
signaled by the Bank of England we have
to be ready and ready to take action not
just the Bank of England but now broadly
on what we can do you know to offset
those longer-term and damaging effects
for the moment the government is
focusing on a gradual reopening for
example of the housing market we're just
starting to recover I do believe it will
take at least to the end of the year to
come close whether we'll even get there
but you know I feel positive that
there's enough people who want to move
and if there's not people that want to
move then people will sell and people
will buy and there's much lost ground to
make up in gyms - with the added
challenge of whether people will use
gyms in a new normal the fitness sector
has proved before that it's particularly
resilient in a recession and I think
will benefit greatly from the Tailwind
provided by the pandemic actually we've
never seen a weaker month the economy
far from fighting fits the question just
how long the process of rehabilitation
will take vital Islam BBC news well the
economic uncertainty has led to calls
for trade talks with the EU following
breaks it to be extended beyond the end
of this
yeah but the government has ruled that
out with cabinet minister Michael Gove
saying he'd formally confirmed to the EU
that there will be no delay but checks
on goods coming here from the EU will be
phased in next year to give businesses
time to adjust political correspondent
Alex Forsyth reports it's not been
business like this for months many firms
disrupted because of the virus and at
the end of this year another big change
could be brewing our current trade terms
with the EU end and there'll be no
extension whether there's a new deal or
not we would not be extending that's it
we are leaving the transition period on
December the 31st that provides clarity
and certainty to business and our
announcement today allows business to
plan in an appropriate and flexible way
the UK left the EU on January the 31st
allowing a year where not much changed
to work out future relations those talks
haven't made huge progress so on Monday
the prime minister will meet EU figures
to try and get things moving
because December the 31st is the
deadline for a new trade deal to be
agreed and that won't be extended
although some still think it should be
and why to take away the risk of an
ordeal outcome and also to make sure
that all of us remain focused on
supporting business through the post
corvid recovery and not making the
challenges that the economy and our
businesses face any worse than it
already is for some businesses though
some relief today this fashion firm
imports from and exports to the EU and
today the government said from January
it would relax new rules on some Goods
coming in six months grace for customs
paperwork and payments which was
welcomed here setting up a whole new
border control system in seven and eight
months wouldn't be realistic and I think
the UK consumer will benefit from that
the government insists it's not
backtracking on previous plans arguing
that a phased approach to new customs
checks is pragmatic in the current
economic climate but the EU is not
reciprocating saying it will be ready
for controls on imports come January
brexit may not have dominated here of
late but that doesn't mean the pearl
tickle pressures eased the government
was reelected with a significant
majority with a strong mandate to get on
with brexit if the government is going
to fulfill the commitments on which its
elected we need to have those customs
processes and our borders fully
operational as soon as we can for
businesses certainty as ever is key
even more so given the turmoil of
coronavirus while a slower approach to
new border checks might be welcomed by
some is whether a trade deal can be done
that remains crucial to many Alex's in
Westminster now Alex coronavirus and
brexit these are two huge issues and the
government's in front aren't they yes
reason I think that's right and on
brexit the fact the government is
relaxing the timetable for those new
custom checks is something of an
acknowledgement of the disruption that
businesses are currently facing but the
big question is of course whether a
trade deal can be agreed in the
timetable the government has now
committed to and both the EU and the UK
say it's possible they've agreed to
accelerate talks in coming weeks but
there are still big gaps between the two
sides so it will require significant
compromise and of course the backdrop to
all of that is the economic picture that
was painted so starkly by those figures
released today and it may not be a
surprise of course that the economy took
such a hit during the lockdown period
but what is key now is whether the
recovery is fairly relatively quick or
whether there is lasting deep damage and
remember that this was a government
there was a lectin on a platform to get
brexit resolved but also to tackle some
of the regional the societal the
economic inequalities in this country
and I think what is clear now on both
fronts is simply the scale of the
challenge the government is now facing
okay Alex many thanks Alex for Scyther
in Westminster