Evening Standard comment: Rishi Sunak's new bailout will just be the start | Journalism Matters | Install the NHS tracing app today!

The most important thing to know about the Chancellor’s big statement today is that he didn’t want to make it.

He has announced billions more in support for the economy, not because he’s been making plans for months, but because his hand has been forced, by Labour. They were ahead of that game and pushed for an extension of the furlough scheme. They also pushed for him to explain what’s going on in the Commons. And it has been forced by the rise in infection rates.

As Britain slides back towards lockdown, the Treasury is playing catch-up.

Our prediction is today’s announcements might not be enough and there will be more to come.

As jobs go and the economy finds itself in cold storage, Rishi Sunak will be under pressure to repeat the magic tricks he produced in the spring, which kept businesses afloat, people in jobs and carried the economy through to the start of the recovery.

The trouble with magic tricks is that they are less impressive the second time. The Chancellor also has less to play with. The furlough scheme was ferociously expensive the first time; it cannot be afforded again.

That’s why support is likely to come to only keep people in active jobs, rather than pay people not to work at all. As bleak news from employers shows, the number of active jobs is falling fast.

The Chancellor will find himself under pressure to find other ways to help. That’s why he will have to come back to the Commons soon with more than he had today.

Mr Sunak knows that the best route for the economy is not government bailouts but to keep society active, which is why he’s reported to have sided with those who want to keep things like pubs and restaurants open, against the likes of Matt Hancock whose priority is stopping the spread of the virus.

It is a legitimate tension and Mr Sunak is right to fight. We don’t want another lockdown. The risk is that the Prime Minister splits the difference with policies that rip the heart out of the economy — by scrapping things like the return to office working — but end up doing nothing effective to stop infection rates. That way we will get poorer as well as sick.

Ministers hope that by the spring testing really will be working, infections falling and a vaccine beginning to offer some hope. But that could be more than six hard months away.

Journalism matters

Today we report the welcome news that the Government is toughening warnings on the dangers of super-strength opioid painkillers — an issue we’ve campaigned about.

On the day the death of the famous campaigning Sunday Times editor Harold Evans is announced — the man who exposed the thalidomide scandal — it’s a reminder that journalism can make a difference.

• You can read our full Opioid Timebomb investigation, complete with video and interactive graphics, HERE

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It’s late and yes, there will be flaws, including that many cannot even download it. But the NHS Covid app may make a difference if enough people use it.

The only way to find out is to put it to work.

Today, it’s available. We urge people to do their bit and download it now.

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Sunak unveils £300 million-a-month deal to replace furlough scheme