Chancellor pledges to give £14bn to public services over pandemic

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said on Monday he will provide £14bn from the coronavirus emergency response to public services.

The Treasury said the £14bn will help the NHS and local authorities.

Sunak said, “Our public services and its incredible workers are working with immense resolve and skill to keep us safe.

“We depend on them, which is why we are doing everything we can to provide our NHS, local authorities and others, with the resources and tools they need to tackle the virus.

“From the start, I’ve been clear our vital public services will get whatever they need to protect this country and its people from coronavirus.”

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have issued drastic new guidance measures to nurses, after there have been more frontline deaths.

Nurses have been told they should “refuse” to treat coronavirus patients if they do not have adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), “as a last resort.”

The government have been accused of failing to deliver the vital PPE to frontline NHS staff placing them at high risk of becoming infected and passing it on to others.

Coronavirus hospital deaths in the UK have now reached 10,532 after 657 more people died in England.

Of those, NHS England recorded 42 deaths aged between 30 and 98-years old who had no underlying health conditions.