Rishi Sunak warns UK economy will get worse before it gets better

Rishi Sunak warns UK economy will get worse before it gets better

Rishi Sunak told the Commons on Monday he was confident the current package of support would carry Britain through until the spring.

Photograph: House of Commons/PA

Rishi Sunak has warned Britain's economic performance will worsen before the coronavirus vaccine helps to improve the outlook for jobs and growth.

The chancellor told the House of Commons that, while the vaccine provides hope, there was a need for tougher national restrictions to contain the spread of the virus and that this would have a "further significant economic impact“.

"While the vaccine provides hope, the economy is going to get worse before it gets better,“ he said.

Speaking in the Commons for the first time since the government launched a third national lockdown, Sunak said the Treasury's emergency support measures were helping to protect jobs and businesses and that the vaccine was the "most important economic lever“ to reboot the economy.

But despite calls from business leaders, trade unions and Labour for a fresh package to match the challenges posed by the latest restrictions, the chancellor only restated the support now available under previously announced schemes.

Sunak said he was confident that "this comprehensive support“ - which totals more than £280bn in higher spending and tax cuts since the pandemic