Coronavirus has not only already caused 60,000 premature deaths in the UK, many of which could have been avoided. Precisely because we have still got nothing like control of the virus, unlike many other countries, its continuing cost is also going to be phenomenal: the collapse in labour productivity in schools, shops and so many other environments is not a concern for just a few weeks, as the government clearly hopes. It will instead be an issue for a considerable time to come. And in that case our ability to do so many things previously taken for granted can no longer be presumed.

Richard Murphy, ‘There is no normal anymore’