Now is not the time for Rishi Sunak to worry about the deficit | William Keegan

Threatening us with even more austerity is the last thing the chancellor should be doing in the midst of this profound crisis

In The Alchemist, the poet Ben Jonson, a rather more considerable figure than his near-namesake Boris Johnson, allows his principal character, Face, to make use of the plague for all manner of subterfuge.

Until recently, the hardcore Brexiters were assuming that the latest plague, Covid-19, would divert attention from the predictable horrors of Brexit. Oh no. It is not turning out like that. Even during the transition" period the monstrosity of it all was beginning to dawn on people. Why, the latest YouGov poll tells us that between 10% and 13% of Leave voters now regret their vote.

His rationale is to prepare for the next crisis - 'building up the resilience you need to deal with the future shock'. But this IS the next crisis. This is the future shock