Spirit of the Blitz

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WHEN THE British are confronted with a national crisis they default to talking about the second world war—and especially 1940, when Britain stood alone against Hitler’s Germany. Boris Johnson, who fancies himself as Churchill, has declared that “we must act as in wartime and do everything it takes to support the economy”. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has called on Britons to emulate their grandparents’ behaviour during the Blitz. “Despite the pounding every night, the rationing, the loss of life, they pulled together in one gigantic national effort. Today our generation is facing its own test, fighting a very real and new disease.”