There is a cheque in the post

How many times have creditors heard the words there is a cheque in the post. My thoughts and words are my own. Often, I do not communicate them. But now I feel that I must.

A global calamity is at our feet. Our leaders, in nearly every country, are reacting and mouthing the same platitudes.

I constantly hear the words, “the ventilators are coming next week, the tests will be here next week, the human resources are coming”.

These platitudes are repeated endlessly whenever a difficult question is asked.

The words that I do not hear are “I was warned that this was coming and did very little or nothing about it. I have failed you. I resign to let someone better experienced to run things: someone from the front line who has put their life at risk for others”.

The first victim of war

Many politicians and people in the media have likened the current health emergency to a war. This is not true and off course the first victim of war is always the truth.

There  are still cruel wars being fought in Syria and Yemen. They have been going on for years with no end in sight. Hundreds of thousands have died, have been displaced and traumatised. We must not forget them in this time of crisis and be aware of what will happen if the disease spreads to their refugee camps.

Yesterday it was announced that Prince Charles had contracted the Covid 19 virus and today Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock,the prime minister and health secretary respectively, had also contracted the virus.

On social media Prince Charles was criticised for being prioritised for being tested when others do not have testing available. But come off it, he has been making an enormous number of public appearances to try to improve morale.

Likewise, the prime minister and health secretary have been meeting an enormous number of people. It is inevitable that public figures will catch the virus having put their health at risk.

No-one deserves to catch this virus and everyone has a family that does not want to see someone ill.

I am not a big supporter of the monarchical system of government but I wish Prince Charles a speedy recovery.

I am not a member of any political party, and sometimes I am sceptical about the motives of politicians but Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock have put their health on the line, so I wish them a speedy recovery.
Above all, I wish anyone who has got ill in the NHS, The Police and Fire Brigade a speedy recovery.

It is easy to be critical of others when you are sitting at home in confinement. There is no need, however, for nasty "schaden freude" comments to be posted on social media. To all those that are posting such messages, I say shut up.

Post Covid19 planning and European Co-operation

In a time of crisis there is no room for complacency and the blue skies thinking of weirdos. Obviously, people need to be told what to do to alleviate the emergency and this should be done. There should be no room for yes men, however. Authority and responsibility should be firmly linked together. If  adminstrators or civil servants ordered to do something then those doing the ordering should take responsibility. There is no other way management of a crisis can be conducted.

We need to be planning for the post Covid19 recovery now. This is no time to be thinking about anything else. The Brexit transition should be extended indefinitely.  We need to be working with our European neighbours as closely as possible to recover the health of our nations and our economies. This is no time for ideology to replace practicality.

We need the free movement of workers across Europe to help balance excesses in one nation against deficits in another. We need to allow musicians and artists to cross borders freely, to cheer us up and improve morale when the restrictions are finally lifted. We need scientists and medical staff to exchange ideas freely. We need security co-operation.

The British people are about to find out what happens when public services are denuded of resources. The health service will struggle. The Police do not have enough staff to maintain public order and to ensure that no-one is moving around or assembling unnecessarily. This situation must change, in the future there must be more resilience granted to the public services to account for an emergency.  The police,especially, are now going to have to rely upon the co-operation of the public. Probably the Army, Navy and RAF do not have enough resources to support the police in a real emergency if there is rioting or widespread social disorder.

The public must co-operate by staying at home and social distancing. Surely, it is worthwhile losing our civil liberties for a short period rather than let the virus spread uncontrolled to kill hundreds of thousands. Our economy could be damaged permanently if the the virus is allowed to "let rip".

It is time to stop the abuse of our police, ambulance and rescue forces and damage to their equipment. If you are told to disassemble or isolate yourself, or keep your distance by the police than do so without complaint.

There is some hope that drugs to alleviate symptoms will be on the market in a few months but the problem will not be solved. Only a vaccine can truly resolve the crisis.

Soon a serological test will be made available which will be able to test subjects for anti-bodies, so that doctors can tell who has already recovered from the virus, and who are still sick, and those that have not yet encountered the virus, and those who are infected but asymptomatic. This test can be done in ten minutes, and it will be a very powerful tool to help control the disease.

When a vaccine is finally available a substantial proportion  should be serologically tested before they are vaccinated to obtain demographic information about the virus. We should then be planning for the next pandemic to come our way and make sure all the equipment and people are in place before it comes a severe problem.

There is no room for complacency. Heed the warnings as well , please.

Covid-19 and Brexit

Michel Barnier has contracted Covid-19 and I wish him and everyone else who has been or will be affected good health. Michel Barnier is too much of a gentleman to blame Brexit, he is both rational and logical. To blame Brexit for his problems would be irrational just as it is irrational to blame the EU for Britain's problems.

Britain is now in a real pickle not only does it have to contend with a health and economic disaster, it also has to contend with cutting itself off from its most important trading partners after December 31st 2020. Brexit is dragging Britain further into the mire.

There is something wrong with the markets when both the FT100 index and the Pound plunge. The Bank of England has dropped interest rates to their lowest rates ever. Normally, a currency falls when interest rates go down but this time the Pound went up but how long for? The social and economic future looks grim.

Where are the unicorns and fields of milk and honey that Brexit politicians promised voters? They are all gone. Levelling up is now a dream to be left for a long time. Covid-19 will make everyone suffer but the poor will suffer most, and Brexit will make their plight worse. I would exchange Brexit anytime to be relieved of Covid-19.

Droves of doctors and nurses have returned to their home countries because of the Brexit attitude that made them feel unwelcome. We need all the health workers we can get in our hour of need. The covid virus doesn't care if you were a leave or remain voter but you could die or live with serious health consequences if there is no doctor or nurse to treat you.

Farmers need workers from the EU to pick fruits and vegetables;  they won't becoming, and this could lead to food shortages. 40% of our food comes from the EU, the lorries won't becoming, and eventually there will be extra food shortages if the crisis carries on much longer.

We have a shortage of care workers from the EU because they, too, have been made to feel unwelcome and  have gone home. Who is going to look after your grandmother or grandfather when there are severe staff shortages owing to both the covid-19 crisis and Brexit?

When this is all over, both the UK and the EU will be in desperate trouble. Britain will get over the health crisis. However, Brexit  will exacerbate the continuing economic problems, and it could finish us off. Can we really afford to have long queues at Dover and Calais to prevent food and industrial products coming in?

Can we afford to have a health service and social care system denied of health workers by the stupid bureaucracy of immigration controls. The poor will suffer most.

When this health crisis is over; Britain and the EU will have to stay very close to ensure a full recovery. Britain needs the Single Market and Customs Union and the EU needs us to stay in these organisations. Petty squabbling and nationalism won't help anyone. Mister voter and Mister Politician it is time to get real and to put the evil genie of Brexit back in its lamp.

World recession

Sooner or later there was going to be another world recession. Everything was ticking along nicely, but was it? Government, corporate and private debt has been soaring once again. Memories are very short. The Covid 19 epidemics are not the cause of the precipitate falls in the stock and oil markets but they are the catalyst of a fear which is gripping investors. Some investors are more frightened of losing all their money than their health. But, of course, losing your health is contributing to the fear. Fear is now overcoming greed and for as long as this fear lasts there will be shocks to the markets.

During the financial crisis of the 1930's we had leaders who were able to lead the world out of trouble. One such leader was Franklyn D Roosevelt, who, in my opinion, was one of the greatest US presidents; he levelled with the US public and did not lie. He assuaged the public's fears and introduced practical measures to help working people. Printing money was not enough for him. He lead the US out of recession and prepared the American economy to be strong enough to fight and defeat the forces of nationalist Germany and Japan. Without him Western liberal democracy probably would not have survived especially in Western Europe. The Soviet Union would have won in Europe and, Western Europeans would probably to this day have been subjected to Stalinist type regimes.

Today we have few Western leaders with the competence of Roosevelt. They do not have the strength of character to tell the truth or the ability to act to create economies which support the common good. Some Western leaders are either liars or bullies and sometimes both. Administrators are faced with dealing with fake news and being forced to do what they are told by incompetent leaders. This is a recipe for disaster if the beginnings of a new economic and financial crisis are not cut-off in the making.

We can but hope that someone or something will pull us through. There is a message here for Britain, which is by far the most indebted of all the G7 nations. We have left the EU, but this is not the best time to leave its single market. The EU and the UK will be best placed to work together rather than drift apart if there is a financial emergency. Let's hope that common sense will prevail but, populists are short on common sense.