Jobs in cafes and shops may never bounce back – and ministers must address this

It will take a concerted effort to avoid huge job losses in the leisure sector - but the government isn't very good at them

To save your local cafe and beat the virus, dine at well-spaced tables in the street. To watch films on a big screen, take your car to the local drive-in cinema. And to get fit, join an open-air Pilates class.

All that is easier done in Greece and Spain than in the UK, but that shouldn't stop Britons thinking about new ways to enjoy ourselves over the coming years with an ever-present virus. If we don't, unemployment is going to be as bad as it was in the 1980s, when the Thatcher government let go" the steel and mining industries without any consideration for people's livelihoods, scarring large parts of the country for decades. This time the worst-hit sectors will be leisure, travel, tourism, hospitality and retail.

Customers may resist a return to normal, feeling that however enjoyable it is to go out and spend, the risk is too high

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