Two reports from the IfG this week make for stark reading, just as we begin the second lockdown of the pandemic.

The think-tank’s report on how ready we are for Brexit was never going to be light reading. The double whammy of Brexit and a pandemic – before you even consider the raised terror threat level – has prompted the IfG to warn the Government that it has got to start sharing data, and working with local authorities and the devolved governments, to ease us into Brexit.

Less than two months to go and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is yet to be resolved, while local resilience forums and local authorities are stretched to breaking point, dealing with the second spike of the pandemic and the economic fallout ahead.