Sunak says new national lockdown would have 'stark' costs

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday that he believed a second national lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus would carry heavy economic and social costs.

“We cannot allow the virus to take hold. We must prevent the strain on our NHS becoming unbearable. But we must also acknowledge the stark reality of the economic and social impacts of another national lockdown," he told parliament.

"The costs of doing so are not abstract, they are real. They can be counted in jobs lost, businesses closed and children’s education harmed," he added.

(Reporting by William Schomberg, writing by David Milliken; editing by Stephen Addison)