Hapless Bank of England decisions on UK tech firms means keeping them afloat has become taxpayers’ problem
Tech it on chin
THE last thing Chancellor Jeremy Hunt needed ahead of his Budget this week was a credit crunch-style run on a bank.
Most people wouldn’t have heard of Silicon Valley Bank until its collapse this weekend — or any of the Brit tech firms so heavily reliant on it for cash.
But hapless Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey’s decision to thrust its UK branch immediately into insolvency means it’s suddenly become everyone’s problem.
The Chancellor is now forced to prop up cash-flows of these companies with taxpayers’ money to protect thousands of jobs in a sector deemed crucial to our post-Brexit future.
This is bad news ahead of another tight Budget, likely to be memorable only for some childcare giveaways and an economy-damaging increase in Corporation Tax.
It is also ill-timed when the Treasury can only find an extra £5billion for Defence — just half that needed to protect Britain’s front-rank military status.
And ordinary folk will take a dim view of saving the corporate backsides of naive tech bosses who put all their eggs in one basket.
SVB’s is the worst bank failure since 2008.
But despite fears of another system collapse, this time bankers have to take the full hit rather than be bailed out.
We are still paying the price for the credit crunch and the pandemic.
The fantasy of printing trillions in banknotes while keeping interest rates at near zero has to be over.
Otherwise, where does it all end?
Well rewarded
HOW can it be right or fair that patients who have waited months for vital surgery — including cancer and heart cases — will have woken up still not knowing if their ops would go ahead today.
According to the NHS itself, the 72-hour junior doctors’ strike will cause more damage than any other action so far.
As the left-wing leadership of the BMA demands a 35 per cent increase, remember this:
That by the end of their training doctors are in the top two per cent of UK earners — and all set for a £60,000-a-year pension.
No one wants our NHS doctors to be undervalued.
But this strike is not the answer.
Real offenders
FOR years The Sun has been calling on the police to stop messing about with social media spats and concentrate on solving real crime.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s decision to issue guidance that cops must prioritise freedom of expression in so-called “non-hate” crimes is deeply welcome.
So, we’ll say it again, officer: Ditch the inquiries into offence and inquire into actual offences.