Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 48

Which is the best option, lockdown or herd immunity? We're about to find out | Simon Jenkins

So far we havent had the evidence to truly judge leaders and their coronavirus policies. With policies easing, we soon will

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The trickle is starting. Spain, Austria, Italy, China, possibly Germany and the US will this week begin, however hesitantly, the great return to work. As others hold back and some may even toughen lockdowns, the result will be the most extraordinary mass experiment in history.

The outcome should go some way to...

The coronavirus crisis has exposed the truth about the EU: it's not a real union | Simon Jenkins

The arguing over a financial rescue package for hard-hit states shows that even member states dont trust Europe

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The European Union has scraped through its latest crisis by the skin of its teeth. The past week has been a disgrace. When ministerial talks collapsed on Thursday over the plan for a coronabond, the reaction seemed terminal. Germans and Dutch insulted Italians and Spaniards. Italys prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said his...

With Boris Johnson in hospital, government is adrift | Simon Jenkins

As we wish the PM a speedy recovery from coronavirus, we must recognise that the machinery of power is malfunctioning

Boris Johnson is ill and in hospital. That must be wretched for him and his family. We can only wish him well and a speedy recovery. His infection by Covid-19 indicates the extraordinary contagiousness of this disease and possibly its widespread prevalence. Of the first there is now no doubt. Of the second, without testing, there is no clue.

That a prime minister is ill is a...

Was I wrong about coronavirus? Even the world's best scientists can't tell me | Simon Jenkins

I cant tell if my optimism is misguided when experts disagree on everything from mortality rates to preventive measures

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I was wrong. Or I think I was. I heard Boris Johnson on 3 March leap into war mode and publish 28 pages of emergency plans, should coronavirus take hold in Britain. There were reports that half a million could die. I was sceptical.

I noted that in 1999 it had been said that BSE could kill half a million. Sars in...

Coronavirus has exposed a desperate need for localism | Simon Jenkins

A new Beveridge-style report on the welfare of communities could help our traumatised minds focus on the future

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At the height of the blitz in 1941, the labour minister Ernie Bevin so disliked an official called William Beveridge that he got rid of him to write a report on national insurance. As the bombs fell, an angry Beveridge proposed an entire postwar welfare state, with financial security from cradle to grave. No one seemed to mind...

Canada closes borders to foreigners – as it happened

WHO urges governments to test, test, test; US measures ramped up; Germany closes shops. This blog is closed

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A British cruise ship that was turned...

The government is sending mixed messages. Johnson's coronavirus briefings may make things worse | Simon Jenkins

After a weekend in which Matt Hancock distanced himself from herd immunity, public confidence urgently needs to be restored

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Boris Johnson is to hold a daily press conference on coronavirus. If ever an accident was waiting to happen, this is it. Downing Street hopes to put a stop to days of scientists and ministers falling out over how the crisis should be handled. Good luck with that.

When all eyes are rightly concentrated on the judgment of professionals, it is...

Johnson’s egocentric budget gives him everything and local councils nothing | Simon Jenkins

Stifling local democracy and centralising control is the style of Orbáns Hungary or Erdoğans Turkey

Populism has arrived, blue in tooth and claw. Rishi Sunaks budget, clearly dictated from 10 Downing Street, proposes a staggering £600bn of extra public spending over the current parliament, showing an enthusiasm for public spending not seen seen since postwar reconstruction in the 1950s. Apart from cash set aside for coronavirus, it is going not into peoples pockets but largely into state...

There will be no easy cure for a recession triggered by the coronavirus | Simon Jenkins

An economic collapse may have already begun and globalisation will make recovery more difficult

The world appears to be on the brink of a sudden recession. The economic disruption caused by the coronavirus might put an end to what has been a heady decade on the world stock market since, after the 2008 global financial crisis, low interest rates and quantitative easing became the new normal. Today’s markets are registering massive falls of up to 10%, unprecedented since 2008. Billions of...

Why I’m taking the coronavirus hype with a pinch of salt | Simon Jenkins

We’ve been here before, and the direst predictions have not come to pass

Never, ever, should a government use war as a metaphor in a time of peace. Britain is not at war with coronavirus. The phrase and its cognates should be banned. Those who exploit them to heighten panic and win obedience to authority should be dismissed from public office.

Related: No, you won't get the coronavirus from Chinese food. And don't drink bleach | Ranjana Srivastava

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