It's Back!

Today was the first day that the North Norfolk Railway re-opened, so I went out to capture the moment. It's running four steam trains a day for July for pre-booked round trip tickets from Sheringham only, with Weybourne station closed and Holt station only open to those on the train while the engine turns round. You can't book seats, just an isolated compartment for between four and eight people, with thorough cleaning in between trips. I can't say I saw many on the train. 

Day 115 / Day 107 of Lockdown / Day 5 of Step 3 (for my record only)
UK deaths up 126 to 44,517. US records a record increase of daily cases of 60,000, with California and Texas each recording 10k new daily cases. Total cases to date globally pass 12m, taking just 5 days for the last 1m cases to be recorded. The WHO says that evidence is emerging of airbourne transmission of Covid-19. I read a while ago that aerosol particles can be created by the action of a toilet flushing (so put the lid down) and by hand dryers which some scientists are saying should be switched off. 

The Chancellor announced measures for Phase 2 on 'Support jobs' at lunchtime following the measures to Phase 1 on 'Protection' in March (Phase 3 on 'Rebuild' will be in an Autumn budget and spending review).  There will be a Job Retention Bonus of £1k per furloughed job if it's bought back and kept till January (9m have been furloughed, so a max cost of £9bn). To support younger people there is £2bn made available today for a Kickstart scheme to pay employers the minimum wage plus some overheads for creating new jobs for 16-24 year olds of at least 25hr pw for 6 months, with no cap on the numbers of jobs. The Govt will also provide £1k for new trainees employed and £2k per new apprenticeship created (or £1,500 if 25 or over). A further £5bn to the £88bn pledged in March to invest in new infrastructure. This will be a 'green recovery with green jobs' and £2bn provided for green homes grants, with vouchers of up to £5k per household to cover 2/3 of energy efficiency improvements. £1bn provided for energy efficient public building. The 0% rate of stamp duty raised from £125k to £500k until 31/3/21. For eating out, accommodation and attractions VAT cut to 5% until 12/1/21. During Aug we can all eat out Mon-Wed at 50% off up to £10 per head under an 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme. 

I agree with the jobs support particularly for young people and the green incentives, but would rather have seen Stamp Duty reformed (it cost me over £10k in Stamp Duty to buy a  3 bed property) and Stamp Duty deadlines lead to lots of problems including inflated prices, plus the money is better spent on social housing. I left uni in the worst year for unemployment in the UK since the War, was unemployed for 7 months and applied for over 120 jobs before getting an interview as my CV arrived the day they sacked someone and know only too well that you never feel secure financially as a result. I also feel the move from being unsafe to eat out to being incentivised to eat out a bit risky.