Bank of England must issue firm instructions to soften the coronavirus fallout

It's nice of a few high street banks to offer repayment holidays but it's a piecemeal approach. Threadneedle Street must step up

The Italian view of mortgages in the age of the coronavirus is big, bold and serious: payments can be suspended, says the government in Rome. So what about the UK? Where are our equivalent emergency measures, should they be needed?

Well, there was a flurry of announcements from banks themselves. Royal Bank of Scotland, as befits a bank still 62%-owned by HM Treasury, volunteered for national service by offering affected customers three-month holidays on mortgage and loan repayments and temporary increases in credit card limits. Lloyds Banking Group followed with a package containing some of the same elements. And both banks, plus Barclays, announced measures to help small business customers.