A familiar tanned face returned to Question Time last night, with George Osborne making his first appearance on the show since before the 2010 election, when the panel were discussing how to respond to a global economic crisis. How times change…

Asked whether, in light of Coronavirus, we’re heading for “austerity Mark II”, the former Chancellor said

“I don’t necessarily think it’ll be the same, I think hopefully the recovery from this – although the drop is deeper because we’ve shut down the economy – I think the recovery will be more quick, it will take place more quickly… but the basic truth is sadly our country, because of this virus, is not as rich as we thought it would be.”

He also prophesied that the next election will once again be fought on the economy, “the economy has moved back centre-stage in British politics”. Not usually good news for Labour…