Rishi Sunak’s furlough U-turn leaves him groping for a coherent economic strategy

Analysis: Does the chancellor hope to hunker down and ride out the current Covid wave in the hope that a vaccine transforms the outlook in the new year? If so, he should make that clear to firms, says Ben Chu

In the summer, the chancellor decided it was a time for stimulus, not safety nets. It's now clear that was a mistake (PA)

The furlough “cannot and should not go on forever” declared Rishi Sunak back in July.

And who would disagree with that? Indeed, who was calling for never-ending furlough? The chancellor was knocking down a straw man.

What people were pointing out was that if there was another spike in coronavirus cases and a return to restrictions on the economy it would be sensible for the chancellor to retain the option of keeping furlough (technically known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) in place.