Sunak’s job support boost is welcome, but nearly half a million people still face a cold winter

The chancellor has enhanced the Job Support Scheme and improved his offer for regions in tier 2 lockdown but gaps still remain, writes James Moore

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has boosted support to business amid the pandemic’s second wave (PA)

The problem with the government’s approach to the pandemic is that it seems to be engaged in playing a perpetual game of catch-up.

More than 20,000 British lives may have been saved had it been fleeter of foot when imposing the first lockdown. More may be added to the grim toll through its concentration on fighting the north’s big city mayors at the expense of the real enemy.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is not immune from the problem. But he has proven to be quicker at the game than the rest of the ministers he sits around with cabinet table with, and that includes the prime minister. A case in point: the extension to the Job Support Scheme (JSS) he’s just announced.