AS the government ploughs on with yet another dangerous and reckless misstep in its haphazard and callous approach to the pandemic, one trend is becoming crystal clear: that working people and those already hit hard by a decade of austerity will be expected to pay the price.

With the furlough scheme being wound down, universal credit set to be cut by £20 and Chancellor Rishi Sunak refusing to rule out scrapping the pension triple lock, it seems the Tories’ supposed shift in economic policy predictably doesn’t extend to being prepared to put the interests of the majority of people over those of the class who bankroll their party (and who, in many cases, have by no means done badly out of the last 16 months).

But while rhetoric about “tough decisions” and “fiscal responsibility” is returning, one spending commitment seems to be in no danger of being reviewed by the government, or questioned by right-wing commentators: the enormous sum put towards nuclear weapons.