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  • How long is this lockdown going to last?

  • The country still seems to be abiding

  • by the stringent social distancing rules

  • the prime minister set out two and a half weeks ago.

  • But there are increasing tensions and questions

  • at the top of government about how and when the lockdown

  • should come to a close.

  • As you can see, Westminster is all but deserted.

  • All but non-essential ministers are working from home

  • and MPs are in their constituencies.

  • But one person who certainly is here and has been here

  • throughout the crisis is the Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

  • He only entered the Treasury less than six weeks ago,

  • yet he's had to deal with the economic impact of the UK's

  • lockdown.

  • He unveiled three huge packages to try and keep the economy

  • going throughout this crisis.

  • The first was to help businesses with a huge series

  • of government-backed loans.

  • The second was to help employees,

  • where the government offered to pay up to 80 per cent

  • of their wages, up to £2,500 a month,

  • for the foreseeable future.

  • And the third package was for the self-employed,

  • offering similar terms, but only for those earning up to £50,000

  • a month.

  • What we have done will, I believe, stand

  • as one of the most significant economic interventions

  • at any point in the history of the British state

  • and by any government anywhere in the world.

  • All this is costing the Treasury a lot of money.

  • As a right-wing Conservative, implementing these huge,

  • state-backed measures was a wrench for Mr Sunak,

  • but he had no other option.

  • Otherwise, you would have seen mass unemployment

  • and huge economic woes across the country.

  • But the Treasury is very keen to try and bring these measures

  • to a close as soon as it possibly can.

  • According to the FT's estimates, the three packages are going

  • to add about £60bn to the UK's public finances and could widen

  • the deficit by up to £200bn by the end of the year.

  • Mr Sunak has been the voice arguing most clearly

  • for an exit strategy for the lockdown

  • to know when the Treasury can begin

  • to wind down these measures.

  • But this will be politically very difficult

  • for the chancellor, because every measure he takes

  • will be fraught with grave political risk.

  • But on the other side of this argument

  • is Matt Hancock, the health secretary.

  • He's been at the frontline of the UK's fight

  • against coronavirus since January.

  • The more people follow the rules,

  • then the faster we will all be through it.

  • He's been responsible for hospitals, nurses, doctors,

  • and most troublingly for this government, equipment.

  • The UK has struggled to provide enough PPE equipment

  • for those on the front line.

  • It had a shortage of ventilators,

  • and of course, testing has been a big problem,

  • as the country has consistently fallen behind America, Germany,

  • and other countries in making sure it can test frontline NHS

  • staff and patients who are suspected

  • of having coronavirus.

  • It's Mr Hancock's job to make sure the health service can

  • survive the coronavirus crisis, but he

  • has been concerned that a rapid rise in cases

  • could overwhelm the health service

  • and put patients and doctors in very difficult situations.

  • He's therefore been arguing that the lockdown may

  • need to go on longer and those social distancing measures

  • may need to stay in place to avoid

  • that critical second curve, which

  • has bitten other countries, and could, in itself, overwhelm

  • the health crisis.

  • So in these cabinet meetings you've

  • seen these two sides going head to head.

  • Now, Mr Sunak and Mr Hancock argue

  • there haven't been any arguments, just

  • both sides trying to speak up for the needs

  • of their department.

  • But when you look at the very different aims

  • of both departments you can see why there has been a big split

  • and why there are some very difficult decisions ahead

  • for Downing Street.

  • But the person who's going to make

  • the key decision on lockdown is going

  • to be Boris Johnson himself.

  • Mr Johnson was admitted to hospital

  • on the weekend to undergo further tests as he

  • is suffering from coronavirus himself.

  • In his absence, the de facto deputy prime minister

  • is Dominic Raab.

  • He's the man who will be making the decisions

  • in the prime minister's absence.

  • Some people are going to start wondering,

  • is it time to ease up on the rules?

  • So I have to say, thank you for your sacrifice, but also,

  • we're not done yet.

  • We must keep going.

  • But the decision on when and how to end lockdown

  • and the social distancing measures

  • can only really be made by one person.

  • It will be one of the momentous decisions taken

  • by this government.

  • It can't be Mr Hancock, or Mr Sunak, or Mr Raab.

  • Really, Mr Johnson is the prime minister

  • and he will have to make the call on when

  • it's the crucial moment to start putting Britain back to normal

  • again.

How long is this lockdown going to last?

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