Chlorinated chicken and dodgy 5G unless we extend the transition

New petite bourgeois concerns today in the Observer. Not very original, I fear:

The Observer view: as Britain flounders, Europe charts its recovery

 First the familiar weave:

If the struggle against the pandemic resembles a war, as Boris Johnson believes, then it’s pretty clear who is losing...Late into lockdown, late on PPE, late on testing, test and trace, late on halting the avoidable care homes catastrophe and late on the reopening of schools, Johnson’s government now lags behind in launching an economic stimulus package...The comparative slowness of Britain’s recovery stems from this continuing inability to safely reboot key sectors such as services – hospitality, shops, restaurants and pubs.

Fair enough, but a bit hind in its sight, and maybe a bit contradictory -- if he was late in shutting schools, maybe that provided a few days/weeks extra schooling which is what is being demanded now in the clamour to repoen schools? Same goes for services, of course -- keeping them open was bad but keeping them closed now is as well. Will the net time remaining open be greater or smaller when it is all over than the Obs would like?

Then into it properly:

 It should be plain to even the meanest ministerial intelligence that Britain is in the process of swapping a health emergency for an economic and social emergency. This nightmare is underscored daily by pre-emptive and, in some cases, opportunistic job cuts by companies ranging from Rolls-Royce and Centrica to British Airways and other carmakers. Tourism’s revival has been needlessly handicapped by Priti Patel’s mishandled border quarantine.

 As for the economic stimulus package, what does the Observer have in mind?

While the prime minister was focused on reopening zoos, Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, was implementing a €130bn (£116bn) domestic stimulus package to invest in 50 growth-promoting projects.  ...EU countries together will soon benefit from €500bn in non-repayable grants 

This seems a bit careless with gross and net figures again --of the 500bn euros in grants, how much would the UK have contributed anyway if we had continued membership in an extended transition? What would have been the UK net share? Would it exceed the alleged £100bn the Bank of England is making available?

The link to the Merkel story points to an article by the Blessed Larry, who does not normally get such an accolade. He admires the German package as 'well-crafted' and sees it as a final abandonment of austerity by one of its main advocates. It is not clear whether it was this that required the German High Court to overturn an ECJ regulation first (the actual story suggests the opposite, although there is more criticism of the package too). Elliott concludes:

All crises represent an opportunity as well as a threat. The opportunity here was for the government to use its financial leverage to change corporate behaviour for the better. That opportunity has been blown.

The Obs editorial comes to rather different conclusions:

unable to take advantage of these sensible, collective measures. Dogmatic, intransigent and reckless to the last, Johnson’s government is still insisting instead that the Brexit transition period, without which Britain might have faced food shortages at the height of the pandemic [strawberries,no doubt], will end on 31 December.  

It is worth noting that there has been an excellent crop of tasty English strawberries this year, but the main supplier for Wimbledon is supplying a niche jam-maker instead. All down to the transition period!

Back to the main story, it will all mean we lose face:

the Americans are watching this play out, ready to exploit British neediness to impose their objectionable terms for a bilateral free trade agreement. And as for a fair deal with China after Huawei, go whistle.

If only we were Great Britain again, not obligated to Johnny Foreigner. 

It is finally personal, of course:

Johnson knows all this, but does not seem to care. On the pandemic, on economic recovery, on Brexit, he blunders blindly on, blagging and bragging, trashing the country as he goes. This is not taking back control. This is a prime minister who has lost control.