Plus: Scam PPE offers. Johnson’s very real illness. And: I’m wondering about the rest of his body. (My dog’s, not my partner’s.)
We will need to significantly and rapidly increase our testing capability and our ability to link this to a contact tracing system.
The truth is that we are talking about death now more than we have in years, for many of us perhaps more than we have ever talked about it.
As in 2008, the line between survival and disaster will rest on the bond markets’ trust in the British Government and on the reputation of the Bank of England.
Often, these are not only hugely inaccurate, but paint a damagingly distorted picture which can influence public opinion and, through doing so, public policy.
Hopefully it will be crisis averted, and we’ll have a bit more time to fix the hole. But sooner or later, difficult choices on tax and spending are coming.
The art will be to do so in such a way that the NHS can cope with a rise in admissions. And social distancing for the most vulnerable must remain in place.
In order to render the NHS proof against future pandemics, and resolve the social care crisis, he needs to learn from Beveridge.
We don’t expect the shutdown to last in full until summer. But if it did, Britain might well be moving towards Universal Credit as a basic income.
I’ve faith that people are focused on that bigger picture, which drives reported levels of understanding and appreciation, if not necessarily popularity.
Absent a clearly articulated strategy business uncertainty will heighten, and severe non-compliance is risked
A common threat, especially in the form of a pathogen, flicks switches in our brains, making us less tolerant of dissent.
This tried and trusted method is resource-intensive for the Government. But can be spurred along with environmental health practitioners.
If employers consider themselves to be heading for catastrophe, it suggests that the wider public will catch up before too long.
Parliament’s role must be to encourage strategic thinking, raise reasonable questions and help the government avoid strategic errors.