Dreaming of B.C.

There are have been far fewer police patrolling the streets over the last few days, and I have noticed more people blatantly having group picnics in the park. Only a few weeks ago, we only saw police driving around with blue lights and sirens, then they came out in force on foot, in cars, on bicycles and on horseback. I think they have - as we all have - been given a hint of what will be the thrust of Boris's address to the nation this afternoon.

They say that it is not helpful to make comparisons at this stage, but when you hear that only 150 people have died of the Covid virus in the whole of Greece, it is difficult not to. They also say that their policy has been to watch what happens in other countries, then extrapolate the statistics with science to decide on the best way forward for us.

The difference between Greece and most of the rest of us is that they had no economy worth protecting, so found it much easier to shut everything down and read books for a couple of months. The rest of Europe has been trying to save jobs and money.

I have some work that I could have been getting on with if I had the stone, but because my supplier did not answer my call asking if he was still producing, I assumed he had shut down like everyone else. Then last week he called me to say that he had closed his yard down and made his three workers redundant after 32 years and thousands of tons of Bath block, meticulously sawn on all six sides by John, best sawyer I have ever known.

It was nothing to do with Covid, he had simply been losing money for over a year. He even called me up last year to ask if I had any work for him. ME! That shows just how desperate he must have been. No, I am kidding myself. It was my clients' accounts he was after.

The (deliberately) leaked slogan to replace the stay home, save lives and protect the NHS mantra of the last month or two is going to be something about 'staying alert' as the country begins planning how to live with the virus until next year or beyond.

Everyone is wondering what that means. How do you 'stay alert' to the virus any more than you are already? People have been so alert to it for so long that the only time they let their guard drop is when they are asleep, dreaming of the far-off days of B.C.

Maybe Boris will make the strategy crystal clear this afternoon.