Boris Johnson forced to rip up three-year spending plans due to Covid crisis

BORIS Johnson has been forced to rip up his three-year spending plans due to the Covid crisis.

The PM had hoped to map out his post-Covid vision for the UK by setting out the Government’s spending plans for the rest of the Parliament.

But Chancellor Rishi Sunak has told the PM it would be impossible to set out such long-term spending plans amid the chaos that Covid has wreaked on the public finances.

The Government has already spent over £200 billion bailing out businesses and workers since March, with the total cost to taxpayers expected to be almost double that.

The Comprehensive Spending Review is usually a multi-year spending plan whereby the Chancellor allocates budgets for each Whitehall department.

Mr Johnson had hoped to press ahead with it despite the Covid crisis and the Financial Times reported that he had held talks with Mr Sunak this week in search of a compromise.

There are expected to be exceptions for health and defence and potentially defence spending amid warnings from military chiefs that delaying spending plans will hamper efforts to plan for a new era of changing threats.