Recession confirmed by ONS - no surprise. But the sheer extent of this negative number - 20.4% in second quarter is still extraordinary.

Mostly driven by what happened in April where a fraction ( a fifth) of the economy shut down, when it is normally fractions of a per cent....

It means that the UK on course for sharpest hit in G7 for the economy, (await official confirmation of Q2 for Japan and Canada, but forecasts are lower than 20%) and on the last figures calculated, for excess deaths from the pandemic too...

Worst on record by far...

ONS international comparison - bigger economic hit than G7 countries that have reported so far, a bit smaller than Spain...

Some of that growth has rebounded in June as the economy started top reopen - up 8.7% in June alone - as lights that were switched off to aid public health were switched back on - question is how long that sustains over next few months...