All pubs, clubs, cafe's and restaurants will close tonight for the forseeable future in the fight against the coronavirus.

Boris Johnson announced that this would be reviewed on a monthly basis admitting it’s "heart-breaking" that businesses will face difficultis as a reult of the closures.

To tackle this, the government has announced that they will step in to pay workers wages for at-risk workers for the next three months. 

The introduction of a new coronavirus job retention scheme will allow any employer across the UK to apply for government aid. 

Chancellor Rishi Sunak vowed to cover 80 per cent of wages of up to £2,500 a month stating there is "no limit" on the amount of funding available. 

He said: "Employers will be able to contact HMRC to cover the wages of people who are not working but are furloughed and kept on payroll rather than being laid off."

In addition to this, VAT payments will be deffered until the end of June.

To help vulnerable households the Chancellor has offered a "safety net" by increasing Universal Credit by £1,000 per year.

He has also pledged to boost the "working tax credit basic element by the same amount [which] will benefit four million households".