Coronavirus diary, Friday 15 May

If there is one certainty among the utter confusion created by the coronavirus pandemic it is the disastrous effect it's having on the global economy. Every country is affected. None know how bad the next few years will be. All they can do in these first frenetic months is to try to save jobs and keep the economy afloat. 

Chancellor: bold action. photo via Getty Images

It is a formidable task for Britain. We are in the worst recession ever, say all the experts, much worse than the 2008 financial crash from which it has taken over 11 years to recover. With millions of jobs already lost and the economy almost at a standstill the Chancellor has taken bold, desperate almost, efforts to keep us afloat. The cost of supporting workers, businesses and the NHS for a year will be £300 billion, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Grounded: 12,000 jobs at BA. Photo: PA

The save jobs scheme for furloughed workers, first estimated to cost £28 billion, has now been extended adding many more billions. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been praised for his swift, bold action and his openness - rare among his cabinet colleagues. Without that instant aid thousands of businesses would have collapsed but many are on the brink, Among the worst affected are the aviation and hospitality  industries. British Airways is sacking 12,000 workers and  other airlines are shedding jobs and mothballing planes. The optimists say Britain's economy could bounce back in a year or so; the pessimists see years of austerity and hardship ahead, worse than the past decade. 

Adding to the uncertainty is Brexit, sidelined now but with crucial deadlines ahead. If no deal is reached by 31st December Britain will have to try to make new trade deals with countries that will be, like us, struggling to get their economies back on track. Britain has been bankrupt before, of course, after two world wars, with similar mountains of debt but we have survived.

It exists after all...

Mrs May as Prime Minister, told Labour in the 2017 general election that there was no magic money tree. Chancellor Sunak seems to have found a magic forest.