Good morning. Today people in England will find out exactly what coronavirus restrictions they will be subject to when the national lockdown ends on Wednesday next week. As we report in our overnight story, most of the country will be in tiers 2 or 3 – the two toughest sets of rules.
But before we get the details, analysis of the spending review yesterday continues, and this morning the Resolution Foundation has produced a striking assessment. It says average pay will be £1,200 a year lower by the middle of this decade than was expected before the pandemic. Summarising one of the findings in its spending review analysis, it says:
Average wages are now on track to be £1,200 lower than forecast pre-pandemic.
The combined effects of weaker pay growth and higher unemployment will serve to prolong Britain’s living standards squeeze. Household incomes are on course to grow by just 10 per cent in the 15 years since the start of the financial crisis in 2008, compared to the 40% growth seen in the 15 years running up to the crisis.
Resolution Foundation
(@resfoundation)The Covid crisis is on track to reduce average pay packets by £1,200 a year by 2025 compared to pre-pandemic forecasts and prolong Britain’s 15-year squeeze on household incomes – key finding from overnight analysis of #SpendingReview2020 pic.twitter.com/RDUI2H22OH
Resolution Foundation
(@resfoundation)The 15-year living standards squeeze – household incomes are on course to grow by just 10 per cent in the 15 years since the start of the financial crisis in 2008, compared to the 40 per cent growth seen in the 15 years running up to the crisis. pic.twitter.com/Tk3XdxhqYW
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: The ONS publishes figures on migration during the coronavirus pandemic.
9.30am: Richard Hughes, head of the Office for Budget Responsibility, speaks at a Resolution Foundation event.
10.30am: The ONS publishes its weekly coronavirus infection survey (which is normally published on Fridays).
10.30am: The Institute for Fiscal Studies holds a briefing on the spending review.
11am: NHS test and trace releases its weekly performance figures.
After 11.30am: Matt Hancock, the health secretary, makes a statement to MPs about which areas in England will be subject to which tiers.
After 12.30pm: Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, makes a Commons statement about development.
12.20pm: Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, takes questions in the Scottish parliament.
1pm: Sir Keir Starmer holds a ‘Call Keir’ virtual meeting for people in the west of England.
Afternoon: Boris Johnson holds a press conference.
Politics Live is now doubling up as the UK coronavirus live blog and, given the way the Covid crisis eclipses everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we will be covering non-Covid political stories too, and when they seem more important or more interesting, they will take precedence.
Here is our global coronavirus live blog.
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