Can government maintain confidence as the UK economy faces renewed surge of Covid-19?

The recovery was running out of steam before infections started to gather pace once more. Now ministers must raise their game, writes James Moore

Restrictions cost the economy in the northeast £70m a day at the peak of the first lockdown, according to research (Wilka Hudson)

This morning, Lloyds Banking Group publishes its UK sector tracker, which shows that in August a heartening 13 out of 14 recorded growth.

For the first time since February, tourism and recreation joined those in positive territory, with only transport still in a rut.

The findings are welcome, but even though the tracker also found that most of the UK’s domestic industries were outpacing their global and European benchmarks, there were signs of the recovery running out of steam. Other surveys have drawn the same conclusion.