I have spent much of the week busy in The Treasury taking meetings and engaging with stakeholders following last week’s significant statement by The Chancellor, setting out an unprecedented new raft of interventions in the economy to support and promote recovery.

At the start of the crisis, the priority was to provide for those industries and individuals who were unable to work.

Now, with coronavirus case numbers in decline and sectors reopening, we are in a new phase. Accordingly, the next step is to support and incentivise people who are getting back to work and adapting to different ways of doing things.

Millions of jobs and livelihoods have been safeguarded by the furlough scheme. Now, with three and a half months to go on the original scheme, it is time to safeguard those jobs in the long term by rewarding employers who keep previously furloughed staff in work into the new year.

The plan prioritises creating quality jobs for 16 to 24-year-olds, alongside new funding for apprenticeships and traineeships.

It also means investing in infrastructure and decarbonisation projects which will produce long-term economic benefits for the country as well as creating jobs and apprenticeships straight away.

There was a boost for the housing market, with a stamp duty holiday and increase in the stamp duty threshold to £500,000 for first time buyers.

There is help for the hard-hit hospitality industry with a VAT cut and ‘eat out to help out’ government-funded discounts to encourage people to return to their local restaurants and cafes.

I have been gratified by the number of emails I have received in the past week from constituents expressing relief and gratitude for the support on offer.

But it is not lost on the government that, even as the economy reopens and most employers try to do the right thing, significant challenges remain.

For those whose job is not yet secure or whose business is still on an uncertain footing, the Chancellor has been very clear that the choices that have been made so far are not a matter of ideology. We will step in again and do whatever is necessary to get the economy back on track.

There will be more to come in the Budget and spending review in the autumn and I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues to bolster the economy wherever it is needed.

Meanwhile, I await a packed - almost normal - diary of constituency meetings on Friday. The hand sanitiser is at the ready and I look forward to seeing everyone!