After Covid, the Need to Rebuild

This week, the Prime Minister laid out for the very first time what all of us around the world have been waiting for: a concrete plan to get us out of the nightmare of lockdown and back towards something resembling what we remember as normal life. Although its follow-through depends ultimately on the ability of the vaccine the reduce transmission, and while the promise to get us back into nightclubs on the 21st of June may seem wishful, at the very least we finally have something to look forward to again.

Indeed, there is much to be hopeful about. Covid transmission in the UK is plummeting, with new cases down to levels we have not seen since September and deaths not far behind. The UK is leading the world in vaccinating its population and vaccines are proving to be effective not only in preventing sickness, but in blocking transmission. It is too early to celebrate, but there is, finally, light at the end of the tunnel.

Nonetheless, even if all goes according to plan, we must not think that the painful sacrifices people have made over the course of this crisis will suddenly disappear on June 21st. The post-pandemic world – it feels subversive to even speak of it – will need vision and ambition from all sectors of society to rebuild our economy, our society, and the bonds between us that were so tested in this long period of isolation. The government must be prepared to repair the damage and get the country back on track for prosperity.

The most pressing priority after lockdown must be to make up for the school closures ordered through the pandemic, which risk doing lasting harm to students’ future prospects. It is already clear that many students simply are not learning online. But the problem is most acute for those students who are already disadvantaged, and the pandemic-induced school closures are already widening achievement gaps between the privileged and the marginalised.

Making up for lost time in education will be an issue of the highest moral urgency when schools can reopen, and it is incumbent upon the government to mobilise the necessary resources to make sure that students are not left behind. That everyone should have a fair shot at making the most of their talents gets to the heart of what it means to be a Conservative. 

The government has laudably taken up this issue, pledging £700 million in additional resources to support education. The package includes a one-off £302 million ‘recovery premium’ for educational activities and summer schooling, £200 million for face-to-face instruction in the summer for the pupils who most need it, an expanded national tutoring programme, and £18 million for early-year’s language development.

Throughout the pandemic, young people have paid a heavy price. They have been least at risk from serious illness, and yet most susceptible to the measures taken to contain it. They’ve been kept out of school and had their early careers disrupted, their mental health impacted. Their sacrifices must be repaid as we rebuild. 

Second is the issue of reopening the economy after months of deep freeze and what will be more than a year of limits on capacity and operations. This task will not be as simple as giving businesses the green light to open up. Many businesses did not survive the pandemic and have shut permanently – most prominently in Oxford, the fabled Lamb and Flag pub. A simple walk down High Street is evidence enough.

Moreover, many businesses that were able to make it through will have a rough period of adjustment once their hibernation comes to an end. People’s habits have changed: many have adapted to doing more shopping online and some are likely to continue to be wary of going out even once they receive the green light.

The move towards online work is likely to stay in part even after restrictions are lifted. We’ve been working remotely long enough that habits have changed, and many companies have already indicated that their employees will be able to work remotely partly of all of the time.

The remote work trend is particularly worrying for young professionals, who often do not have a comfortable home to work from and will miss out on the ability to build connections with their co-workers. Research suggests that informal networks developed on the job are essential for career progression.

Moreover, the end – or at least the reduction – of the commute is likely to reshape the economies of major cities: everything from commercial real estate to small businesses will have to navigate an entirely new context of demand. Public transit will have to rethink their funding models. Small businesses that cater to commuters may that see their pool of customers do not return after the pandemic. And large officer tower blocks – once the mainstay of commercial property markets – may seem increasingly obsolete.

It does, however, have some potential benefits. For one, there will be less need to live in large cities, allowing prosperous professionals to spread out across the country and reinvigorate smaller local economies. Moreover, this has the potential to ease housing prices in cities like London, where the average rent consumes half of people’s incomes. If, after the pandemic, we see a move away from the hyper-urbanisation of the last few decades toward a more balanced regional profile, that will be a welcome silver lining. 

Of course, for the loved ones of those lost to covid, there will be no return to normal. In their place will forever be an empty bed, an empty desk, and empty seat at the dinner table. We must remember that, painful as the sacrifices to contain the disease have been, they were not made for nothing. As we masked up and socially distanced, there were real people at the other end who might not have made it through this pandemic were it not for our efforts. Regardless of whether one believes that the costs were worth it, we can all agree that the fact that our actions saved lives is something to cherish.

Henrik Tiemroth (Publications Editor) is a first-year MPhil student reading Politics at Hertford College.