ust as the government was forced by the pace of events to intensify its clinical and public health response to the coronavirus crisis, so too has its economic response had to be greatly expanded.

If, as the chancellor has pledged, the response has to be “at scale”, then that response will need to be under constant review to ensure it keeps up both with this unprecedented economic shock and shifts in policy on the public health side.

Indeed the two are related: when the prime minister asked people to “avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such venues” and urged people to cut down on travel, then no one should be surprised that many enterprises saw an immediate precipitate drop in custom. Some firms will go bust in days or weeks. It was unfair of him to place them in such a position, so the woeful assurance to the retail, hospitality and leisure sector was especially welcome.