May 30, 2020	INDEX
Tories steer towards dangerous waters
When this is over, if this is over, expect unemployment to return to levels we last saw in the Thatcher era. Then there were 3m on the unemployment register and perhaps as many again effectively jobless but unable to register. Today thanks to zero hours contracts, the casualisation of employment and anti union legislation, we effectively share out unemployment. As a result the number seriously under employed (in addition to the 3m on the register) may hover around the 10m mark. To have 13m people and their families (something like 25% of the population) in dire distress is not just a social scandal, it's also a permanent drag on the economy since poor people buy fewer goods. So far so bad, but it may get worse. Many of the jobs will never return because employers are speeding up the development of automation and AI as a response to the virus. You can see it all around you. For decades we spoke about a cashless society. Now we more or less have it. And those unfortunates unable to get bank accounts can get lost! Except they won't get lost. Many of them are begging in Chatham High Street. These are dangerous times.
INDEX	May 30, 2020 Jonathan Brind