Rishi Sunak ended a decade of Conservative austerity in his first UK Budget with a big increase in public spending and a ￡12bn emergency fiscal stimulus to counter the shock of the coronavirus outbreak.

The UK chancellor acknowledged that the disease would cause “temporary disruption” to the economy but said the government would take necessary action to cushion the impact. The ￡12bn of new money comes on top of ￡18bn already earmarked for public spending not related to tackling the effects of the virus.

Unveiling measures to support businesses, which are expected to take a heavy hit because of coronavirus, Mr Sunak also pledged to pour money into the National Health Service, saying it would have however many “millions or billions” it required to tackle the disease. “Whatever it takes, whatever it costs, we stand behind our NHS,” he said.