Politics

As the British public adjust to new social distancing measures, a common question: how long will this last? At the press conference on Monday, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty was keen to stress that the government measures to tackle the coronavirus resemble a 'marathon not a sprint'. While the elderly have been told they could need to self-isolate at least for three months, increasingly the view in government is that the coronavirus response will go on much longer. The government's initial strategy was to mitigate the virus and allow for a controlled peak of the virus in the summer – around June – and in the build up cocoon vulnerable sections of society so as to reduce fatalities.

A few principles should inform how the Government – any government – responds to what is a devastating act of God that affects all of us. They are: 1) The vulnerable, those who can't look after themselves, need more help than most. 2) If certain behaviours help to keep all of us safe, they should be incentivised. 3) If vital infrastructure and services are at risk of collapse, and the market cannot bear the cost of restoring them, those costs should be socialised, or shared between all of us, with the wealthy shouldering the lion's share.

The Brexit culture wars are back. On Saturday, the Guardian published an article entitled: 'Brexit means coronavirus vaccine will be slower to reach the UK.' As usual with such pieces, the words 'if' and 'could' do more heavy lifting than Atlas. The gist of the article's argument is that leaving the European Medicines Agency (EMA) means the UK will no longer be able to benefit from processes that expedite the authorisation of pharmaceuticals for use. This is because manufacturers may decide to meet the approval process for the much larger EU market first before applying to the UK regulator for approval here. That might be true, but only if the UK sets its own regulations in this way.

After a weekend of opposition party criticism and anonymous briefings over the government's coronavirus strategy, Matt Hancock appeared on the Andrew Marr show in a bid to set the record straight. With the number of UK fatalities now at 21, the Health Secretary attempted to reassure members of the public that the government was doing everything in its power to protect life. Key to this was an effort to distance the government from reports that they are pursuing herd immunity.

It is a sign of our extraordinary times that the main trade association for shops – the British Retail Consortium – is sending out an urgent message to customers: “buy less”. More specifically, they have urged people not to buy more than they need. The national panic buying and stockpiling has emptied shelves in supermarkets across the country, and has brought out the worst in a few people. One relative said he saw a man clear a supermarket shelf of pasta into his shopping trolley, and an old lady asked if she could just have one packet to eat, and he said no. It makes the blood boil. It has brought out the best in others, with community groups across the country mobilising to help make sure vulnerable people can get food and supplies. They are the heroes.

In the past week, the Boris Bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland has changed into a Tory Tunnel and been ridiculed by a leading think tank. The Prime Minister’s plans for the bridge may have morphed but they have not disappeared, as the Fraser of Allander Institute would like to see. The respected policy shop looked at the tunnel's growth potential, climate impact, connectivity and opportunity costs and concluded: ‘It won’t deliver the economic boost some claim, it isn’t a priority, it would go to the wrong location, it wouldn’t be consistent with climate change objectives, and the money could be better spent on other things. Apart from that, it’s a cracking idea.