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Covid Won’t Steal Christmas
Sunak’s figures were eye-watering. We should’ve realised we were only clapping for some of our carers
Playing the supporting act does not come naturally to Boris Johnson. But, on reflection, he might come to thank Rishi Sunak for taking centre stage with his spending review statement, as it allowed most people to overlook his third-rate performance at prime minister’s questions. Accusing Keir Starmer of focusing on trivia when asked about multiple breaches of the ministerial code will not go down as one of Johnson’s career highlights.
Not that the chancellor had an easy time of it either. Sunak tried to give his usual urbane, unflustered “don’t worry your pretty little heads, I’ve got everything under control” performance, but you could sense the tension in his voice. Then again, telling the country that it is basically economically screwed for the foreseeable future is not a job anyone would much relish. GDP had suffered its biggest fall in 300 years. The UK was committed to the highest level of borrowing during peacetime. Unemployment would rise to 2.6 million people. And even in five years’ time, the economy would be 5% smaller. The sums involved were eye-watering, the sort of numbers that no one could properly get their heads around.
