Is this the way the world ends – or what passes for a nation coming together? | John Crace

No one paid much attention to the emergency test, and in Westminster it was hard to distinguish Armageddon from business as usual

This is the way the world ends.

The queue for the self-service checkouts in Sainsbury's doubled back on itself and snaked round the corner into the washing powder aisle. Shortly after 3pm, the first alarm went off. Not loud but insistent. Others soon followed suit. Mine took a while to kick in. My phone has never been quick on the uptake.