What the newspapers said: Hope for a fairer and greener future

James Kirkup felt it was “slowly dawning on the country and the people who govern it” that there will be no quick return to life as we knew it before the outbreak. “This,” he thought, “could be good.”

He wrote: “The Covid-19 crisis really does present opportunities to change the way we live for the better.

“That is no consolation to those who have lost so much to the virus, but a mature country can simultaneously grieve and look to the future.”

Arguing that the Londoncentric, services-dominated economic model will probably not survive in its current form, he pointed out that “a lot of innovative policy” will be required to nurture commercial activity which is less skewed towards the UK capital and more eco-friendly.

A key objective will be helping the huge number of people likely to become unemployed as a result of the outbreak.

“It seems unlikely that Britain will again have 150,000 jobs for people preparing and selling coffee,” he wrote.

“And will one in six graduates of English universities find work in London after graduating, as they did in earlier years? Don’t bet on it.

“Our national crash course in video-conferencing is already persuading some businesses they really don’t need to locate so many staff in the most expensive corner of the country.

“It’s worth asking if it wouldn’t be better to focus post-crisis spending and effort elsewhere, on the places and sectors that would support a more balanced, sustainable and resilient economy.”

It is, claimed Mr Kirkup, the “quieter, more distant parts” of the UK that could offer a vision of what the future might look like.

“Investors are still buying shares largely because money just has to go somewhere. Better that cash goes into building the turbines, tidal barrages, charging points and battery-making gigafactories a net-zero economy will need.

A Treasury willing to spend should be able to entice more of that capital into UK infrastructure. That green recovery is possible, and with it an economic rebalancing that starts to deliver on the almost forgotten promise to ‘level up’ the country’s lessfavoured places.”

The Guardian

For Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, it was not difficult to spot signs that society is already undergoing significant change and becoming more caring. They wrote: “Governments, careless of the contrasts between rich and poor, always want us to believe ‘we are all in this together’.

“In the wake of the 2007-8 financial crisis we didn’t buy it: we remained strongly aware of divided interests and circumstances. However, this time, despite the stark differences in people’s experience, there is a strong feeling that we really are in it together.”

WhatsApp support groups for the vulnerable, volunteers signing up to assist the NHS and increased sociability are cited as examples of the new spirit, which is also reflected in the furlough scheme and other government initiatives.

The improvement, they argued, echoes the “social benefits” enjoyed by more equal countries and highlights the importance of tackling income differences, particularly as Britain emerges from the pandemic and confronts other issues such as climate change.

“Forced by the pandemic, the Government has at last put human wellbeing before economic growth, and the Covid19 crisis has reminded us all that we can be a more sociable and caring society, that we enjoy it and it makes society stronger,” they wrote.

The Express

Leo McKinstry said there was a new “sense of togetherness” in the UK which is “manifested in many ways”.

“It can be seen in the moving ritual of applause every Thursday evening,” he writes.

“With the new respect for key workers, there’s a recognition too that we have recently been too obsessed with indicators of social advancement such as high salaries, soaring property prices or educational qualifications. The pandemic has dramatically reinforced the real importance of practical skills and concern for others.”