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s Boris Johnson announced some of the most severe restrictions on British public life in peace time from the state dining room of Downing Street in mid-March, Rishi Sunak was standing alongside the prime minister preparing to announce billions of spending.
To coincide with the enforced closure of pubs, bars, restaurants and other social venues, the chancellor, who had been in the role for just over a month, unveiled the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – one of the largest programmes of state intervention in British political history.
