Thought For The Day (First published 30 March 2020)
Well, what an alarming time to be alive. Each day resembles an episode in an unbelievably bad and depressing TV drama. If only we could turn off the TV! The magnitude of the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus, or caused by the government in response to the coronavirus, is so unbelievably huge that it's almost impossible to take in. The virus itself is bad enough but the response is making me feel so sick and worried for our future, the future of the UK and the rest of the world, that that feeling of dread is creeping into my bones and suffocating my spirit. I see happy, jumping children transformed into hunched worried waifs. I see smiling, busy parents white faced and deep frowned. I see jolly waiters grey with worry, empty tables, and barren kitchens. I hear worried silence where there should be laughter, quiet murmurings where there should be singing, stiff bodies where there should be dancing. The streets are empty, the shelves are bare. The schools where laugh