COVID-19 UK Political Analysis by Tim Hames – 12th June 2020

As of Monday, English residents will be able to visit a zoo in the morning, purchase jeans from what had previously been considered non-essential retail outlets in the afternoon (albeit in a different way to what had been previously thought ‘normal’) and watch a film at a drive-in cinema in the evening. How many of us will actually avail ourselves of this exciting opportunity is uncertain. On current plans, by July we will be able to frequent restaurants or pubs, seated either outside or at tables indoors that will probably by then be just 1.5 metres apart (the UK, Canada and Spain are the only developed nations insisting on 2 metres at the moment). Admittedly, we will not be able to send all of our children to school, we will be urged to avoid mass transit and international travel will not be restored until a set of air bridges are agreed with other countries (which is highly likely by July 1). A new normal not that different from the old one seems on the horizon.