A perfect storm of private sector profiteering, reckless production practices, environmental destruction and underinvestment in medical research has made global pandemics more common, and undermined our capacity to deal with them.

The coronavirus crisis has brought the national tensions within the European Union to the fore, leading to a sharp conflict between the northern and southern European member states over spending. The European project is facing its demise.

We are told: “The virus does not discriminate – rich and poor alike, we are all in this together.” However, the reality is that the privileged elite, who enjoy relative safety, expect the workers to risk infection to keep profits rolling in.