The UK economy will "get worse before it gets better" as the country battles the pandemic, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned.

The chancellor told MPs the new national restrictions were necessary to control the spread of coronavirus.

UK economy will "get worse before it gets better" as the country battles the pandemic, Chancellor Rishi Sunak warnshttps://t.co/EyZk2sfxrc https://t.co/N9M4mdNN0o

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However, he said they would have a further significant economic impact,

"Even with the significant economic support we've provided, over 800,000 people have lost their job since February," he said.

"Sadly, we have not and will not be able to save every job and every business.

"But I am confident that our economic plan is supporting the finances of millions of people and businesses."

The chancellor said "the road ahead will be tough", but maintained that the government was "taking the difficult but right long-term decisions for our country".

He said that fiscal stimulus provided so far amounted to more than £280bn, while 1.2 million employers had furloughed almost 10 million employees.

At the same time, three million people had benefited from self-employment grants.

Mr Sunak said he would "bear in mind" calls to extend business rate relief and provide further support for the hospitality sector at the Budget in March.

Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds accused Mr Sunak of being "out of ideas" and providing "nothing new".

She said: "The purpose of an update is to provide us with new information, not to repeat what we already know."