There will be no spring recovery. Sunak must prepare for a double-dip recession

The resurgence of coronavirus means renewed hardship, which the chancellor must once again spend to ameliorate

With the development of the coronavirus vaccine, there had been light emerging at the end of the tunnel after a long and difficult year. After the worst year for growth since the Great Frost of 1709, the post-Covid thaw this spring seemed as if it was set to launch the UK economy into a roaring 2020s.

Now, clear signs are emerging that Britain's economy will be hit hard by tougher restrictions needed to contain the surge in Covid-19 infections, fuelled by a new faster-spreading variant first identified late last year in southern England. Far from a boom in 2021, the economy is destined for a double-dip recession.