COVID crisis: The economic emergency and 5 days of Christmas

On Wednesday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his spending review - his economic plan for the year ahead. <br /><br />The UK is having to face up to the scale of the financial cost caused by the coronavirus pandemic.<br /><br />Britain's economy is expected to shrink by 11.3% this year, while unemployment is predicted to rise to 7.5% by next summer - that's 2.6 million people.<br /><br />Tough choices have been made, including a pay freeze for non-NHS public sector workers earning more than £24,000 and a cut to foreign aid spending next year. <br /><br />But more are likely to follow. And what might relaxing rules for five days of Christmas mean for our road to recovery? <br /><br />On this edition of the Sky News Daily podcast with Dermot Murnaghan, we hear personal stories from people who have been affected by the pandemic. <br /><br />Plus, we are joined by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jesse Norman, as well as Sky's Sophy Ridge and our business correspondent Paul Kelso, as we take a closer look at the measures being taken by the government. <br /><br />Daily podcast team:<br />Podcast producer - Annie Joyce<br />Podcast producer - Nicola Eyers<br />Podcast producer – Emma Rae Woodhouse <br />Podcast producer Cat Soave <br />Interviews producer - Oli Foster<br />Interviews producer - Tatiana Alderson<br />Archive - Simon Windsor<br />Music - Steven Wheeler