Monday morning

It is seven in the morning, and Jools is leaving for work.

Last week she was told that as furlough was finishing on Saturday night, all were to return to work on Monday and see how business went.

The Government's announcement of their planned 2nd lockdown on Saturday evening has come too late for many compaies, like Jools' employer, to change those plans. I am guessing paperwork needs filling out and the suchlike.

So, Jools is going into work.

She might be there for an hour, all day, four days; we just don't know.

Lockdown might well go beyond December 1st. But remember, that gives many companies two or three weeks to prepare for the ecomomic Brexit that is coming a week later, one hopes by that point we will know if there is a deal or not, one way or theother. For most companies, there will have to be much form filling, extra planning and so on, no matter what, and almost no tme to get it sorted.

Not that the essential computer systems and army of customs officials will be ready.

It is estimated that the effect of Brexit in January will be twice as bad as the hit from COVID, and the Government is doing no planning, no forecasting on that, so there will likely be no support for businesses.

Imagine COVID, with lockdowns, in the middle of winter with food shortages, medicine shortages, energy shortages.

It will just be like 1973, but with worse music.