The covid-19 crisis helped send gross domestic product plunging by the greatest amount on record – falling by 20.4% in the three months to the end of June.

The news from the Office for National Statistics means the UK economy is officially in a recession after GDP declined 2.5% in the first three months of the year.

It is the first time the economy has been in recession since the 2008 and the second quarter fall is the biggest three month decline since comparable records began in 1955.

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