It’s time to end furlough – and let the British economy recover

At the start of this year, Britain looked as if it would be the first major country to vaccinate its way out of lockdown. Kate Bingham and her team had secured Britain a supply of effective jabs delivered at the fastest rate in Europe. This opportunity was then squandered as the government was swayed by advice from Sage advisers, who kept underestimating the vaccines’ effectiveness. Sage produced no fewer than nine scenarios for Covid hospital cases by mid-August, all of which have proved vast overestimates. The government’s reliance on such advice has come at a heavy cost.

In America, where most states lifted lockdown restrictions months before Britain, the economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Britain’s economy has been kept down for far longer, but what we have seen so far suggests there is huge potential for recovery. There are many more job vacancies than before the pandemic. Because of competition, pay is rising — with average earnings up 8.8