With threats of recession, global fracturing and increasingly angry voters, Labour’s sticky start is unlikely to get any easier

The 2020s have been a dismal decade. Five years ago, when the first reports emerged of a new virus that had its origins in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it was hard to imagine that Covid-19 would have such a devastating impact. Yet within months, the UK was in lockdown, the global economy was in a chokehold, trade flows had dried up and governments were spending freely to prevent deep recessions turning into something even more catastrophic.

A second Great Depression was avoided, but half a decade on, the long-term effects of the pandemic are still being felt. Predictions that the development of new vaccines to combat the virus would prove the catalyst for a new “roaring 20s” have proved wide of the mark. The second half of the decade should be an improvement on the first half – but that’s not saying much. The good news is that a few green shoots have started to emerge.

Larry Elliott is a Guardian columnist

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