Brexit and politics

The future after Coronavirus is dangerously in the balance. While there are opportunities for an end to populism and cynical politics, the fear remains that they become even more embedded. I want to show that the threat of such a slide is real and that we should waste no time in understanding what faces us. What will happen next? In spite of the astonishment of news outlets each time Coronavirus cases rise by a "record amount", the virus obeys simple mathematical rules. The curve is different for each country but it never fails to follow a steep up-phase followed by a down-phase. In countries where preparations have been poor, the peak number of cases overloads the health service of that country. Spain and Italy have suffered very badly. The UK and the US look set to follow. In most cases governments have been forced to impose social distancing and other measures to prevent or minimise overloads. In the US, in what could prove to be a national disaster, Trump has preferred...

With Coronavirus cases rising exponentially, the UK response seems muted and complacent. Here is my post on how we could be walking into a catastrophe. Apologies to those of a squeamish nature. Suddenly there are experts everywhere. From being the least trusted individuals in public life, thanks to being rubbished by Gove and other believers in faith over facts, the government now prefaces every statement with "on the advice of scientific experts". But there is something deeply disturbing about what they are saying. "Herd immunity" has become the latest fashionable talking point. What does it mean and what does it really mean? The idea, if taken at face value, is to take advantage of your immune system, which on being attacked will generate antibodies to resist the attack. Once the body has learned how to defend itself it should have an immunity against future attacks by the same virus. By allowing the virus to pass through the herd (population), the virus is su...