Rishi Sunak digs in for battle against financial cost of Covid

Analysis: chancellor's budget sticks with military theme as final reckoning of virus's impact remains some way off

• Sunak flags tax rises as total Covid spending tops 400bn
• Budget 2021: live coverage
• Budget 2021: key points at a glance

A last push for victory. Wartime metaphors have abounded since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and Rishi Sunak stuck closely to the martial theme in his second budget. The government would use the full fiscal firepower" of the state to defeat the invisible enemy, he said.

Comparisons with previous conflicts are appropriate if not always flattering. The government's complacency and lack of preparation a year ago was a throwback to the Boer war. There were times when the damning judgment of the generals sending men to their deaths on the western front - lions led by donkeys - has seemed apposite.