The government is offering support for businesses on a scale unimaginable even a week ago. Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, has praised the package of loans, tax holidays and grants as “historic, bold and very much necessary”. A trade union leader praising a Tory government — truly, we live in remarkable times. However, while it is the coronavirus crisis that has sparked this government intervention, the state’s relationship with business has been changing for some time in the UK. The debate about whether government should interfere in business and financial markets has historically been defined by political ideologies in the UK — broadly, the left think it is necessary and the right think it should

Source: The Times March 23, 2020 00:03 UTC