When it comes to furlough it was Rishi Sunak, not his critics, who wasn’t living in the real world

Photograph: PA

R

ishi Sunak calls it a “rapid adjustment”. Others have labelled it a “five-stage U-turn”.

But what’s a fair assessment of the twisting, tortuous, history of the chancellor’s furlough scheme since it was announced in March?

First let’s give credit where it’s due. The furlough started off in a good place and it’s ended up in a reasonably decent place.