We are in desperate need of a recovery plan. But the Treasury has gone missing | Gordon Brown

We are in desperate need of a recovery plan. But the Treasury has gone missing | Gordon Brown

When a crisis hits, effective governments do two things. The first is obvious: they deal with the immediate challenge. The second is harder: they anticipate the fallout and then set about working out how to tackle the consequences, looking months or even years ahead.

Thus far, Britain has spent £200bn on the coronavirus economic rescue operation but there is, as yet, no plan for economic recovery.

There are some hopeful signs, such as the good news that vital pharmaceutical goods may once again be manufactured in Britain. But one re-shoring success will replace only a few of the millions of jobs now at risk and, with or without a VAT cut, a summer surge in consumer spending will not of itself return our economy to pre-crisis levels of activity.

The reannouncement of major infrastructure projects - large promises from Conservative pre-election glory days - remains just that and most are nowhere near shovel-ready.

The generous economic dove of spring is now, sadly, on course to be the tax-raising fiscal hawk of autumn

The £26bn in loans to 640,000 businesses has already been spent in offsetting shortfalls in cashflow, leaving even fundamentally sound companies unable to reinvest for the future and Britain vulnerable to more and