We now know we could well be facing the biggest economic downturn for 300 years, as well as the biggest public health crisis for a century. As Keir Starmer has said, in this moment of national crisis, our job as the Opposition is not to try and score cheap political points or demand the impossible. It must be to try, in a fair-minded way, to constructively suggest changes in what government is doing when the national interest requires it.

In an economic emergency such as this, the old rulebook is of little use. Businesses are facing choices in the coming hours and days about whether they will continue or go to the wall. The strength of the rescue plan we offer to them will shape their fate, that of their workers and how long and painful our recovery from this crisis will be.

I commend the Chancellor for his ambitions to do whatever it takes to support our economy. His task now is to close the gap between those ambitions and the reality on the ground. Take just one aspect of the package of support - the business loans scheme . The Chancellor said he was making available up to £330 billion of support for businesses and that scale of offering is welcome. So far, however, just £3 billion has been paid out in total, and for small and medium-sized enterprises, just £1 billion in 6,000 loans — in a country of nearly six million SMEs. The scheme needs to be improved – and fast.

The first change that needs to be made is to underwrite loans for small businesses, not at 80% as now, but at 100%, as in Switzerland. Its scheme paid out 12 times more money in business loans in one week than we have in three. This complete underwriting by government would take the risk off the shoulders of the banks, a system which has seen many thousands of businesses turned down for loans. The process of application needs to be simplified - in Switzerland it is a one page form - and many more lenders, including in our brilliant fintech industry, need to be mobilised as providers.

We also need to focus on those businesses still falling through the cracks of the loans system. This includes larger companies with turnover of more than £500m not eligible for help and at the other end of the scale, our start-up tech companies. They are the lifeblood of the future of our economy, but if they’re not yet in profit, and many are not, they aren’t eligible for loans. There are creative solutions being proposed, including around debt solutions which could later be converted to equity, or up-front equity solutions, but they need to be put into action.

While in normal times, there might be danger in government trying to do too much, too quickly, in a crisis of this magnitude, I believe we are much more likely to regret doing too little, too slowly. There is absolutely no shame in government making adjustments as they go along, as they already have.

The recent Office of Budget Responsibility scenario of a 35% contraction of our economy in the second quarter of this year and a rise in unemployment of two million made for grim reading. All the evidence suggests we will face a steep downturn, but how long it lasts is in our hands. A lot is riding on the choices we make in the coming days and weeks. As an Opposition, we will seek to play our part in ensuring the right choices for the country.

Ed Miliband is the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Energy