Moreover, much unemployment will be in financial services and high skilled manufacturing. The new unemployed will have high expectations of the help and service they receive from our job centres. We must meet those expectations.

In the last two recessions, unemployment reached three million; it may be even higher this time.

The government are taking action to address this issue and more radical action is likely in the months to come. The forecasts for government borrowing will rise further.  The government is trying to both help get credit markets working again and stimulate the economy.  However, as tackling unemployment becomes our main political goal, we may find that trying to boost overall demand in the economy is no guarantee that more jobs will be created. The last recession was different, but for a time there was talk of a ‘jobless recovery’. That could happen again.

Increasing government borrowing to boost overall demand (eg via tax cuts or more government spending) is probably not what Keynes would have focused on except in a depression. As Pavlina Tcherneva, of the Levy Economics Institute, has shown, a genuine Keynesian solution would focus on raising demand for jobs.

The government should become ‘employer of last resort’, just as the Bank of England is lender of last resort. The government could employ people directly through dedicated agencies, working for start-ups or voluntary sector projects. Incentive schemes to encourage employers could also be considered. As the economy picks up, it will become worthwhile for people to leave government employment for higher paid work.

In this way, people keep their skills fresh and add to their experience. New businesses that need usually expensive labour can afford it. The voluntary sector will receive help at a time when giving is under pressure.  And the economy will receive a much needed growth boost.

Stephen Beer is Chair of Vauxhall Constituency Labour Party and a City ethical fund manager