Britain is recovering faster than we dared hope. Let us give thanks | thearticle

The smoke of battle lifts to reveal a scene of devastation and carnage. Or does it? That Covid-19 is leaving a deadly trail is not in dispute: well over half a million are known to have died

of the coronavirus worldwide — and the worst, according to the WHO, is yet to come. Britain has been hit especially hard. To the mortality figures must be added a greater number who have

indeed recovered, but only after long periods in hospital and longer convalescence. The human cost of Covid-19 is hard to quantify, but impossible to ignore. It will certainly prove to be

life-changing even for survivors and their families. The economic cost is easier to quantify, but its long-term impact is harder to predict. Andrew Haldane, the Bank of England’s chief

economist, is confident that the British economy is bouncing back much faster than the Bank had feared earlier in the pandemic. The much derided V-shaped recovery has, it turns out, already

been under way for two months. It is striking that those who were most critical of the lockdown are now also the gloomiest about the recovery. There can be no doubt that confirmation bias is

at work on both sides of the arguments around how rapidly the reopening should take place. The reimposition of lockdown in Leicester is a warning shot across the bows of the

economy-firsters. Yet the overcautious should also take note that so far, there has been no second viral wave. July looks even more promising than June, with pubs and restaurants reopening

this weekend. The resumption of many other work and leisure activities, along with the revival of cultural and religious institutions, bodes well for a proper British summer. As the medieval

round has it, “ sumer is icumen in”. Making the best of it, whatever the weather, has always been our island story. It is far too soon to say that Britain is back to business as usual, but

Boris Johnson is seldom backward in boosting the old animal spirits with a stiff mixed metaphor: “We’re waiting as if between the flash of lightning and the thunderclap with our hearts in

our mouths for the full economic reverberations to appear,” he declared. Let us hope that, having dodged a thunderbolt himself, the Prime Minister will offer more than mere sympathy to

people who are swept away in the deluge to come. Not for the first time, the focus is on the high street. A number of mid-market restaurant and retail chains have gone into administration

during lockdown, from Café Rouge and Byron to Côte Brasserie and TM Lewin. Many of these were struggling anyway and the crisis has merely accelerated an inevitable shake-out. Brewers and pub

chains, by contrast, seem relatively robust. Many consumers have rediscovered smaller shops, which are often family-owned and have proved to be more reliable than supermarkets. The answer

to the decline of the high street may be for local authorities to nurture local businesses, rather than letting themselves be bribed by global corporations. The biggest challenge for town

centres may now come, not from the switch to online retail, but that from office jobs to working from home. Urban life has always been protean, but those who make their living from the

daytime needs of commuters will have to adapt fast to new work habits. There is talk of loosening planning regulations to allow the rapid conversion of business premises into residential

properties. The chronic shortage of accommodation for young workers and their families makes this an attractive idea. And of course it is nothing new: countless buildings now used as homes

were once shops and pubs, factories or warehouses. Any alterations to planning must, however, take account of ethical and aesthetic factors, too. The ongoing scandal surrounding Robert

Jenrick, the Housing Secretary, ought to serve as a warning against cosy relationships with developers. And the report of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, chaired by the

late Roger Scruton, has been gathering dust since it was published in January. It was full of bright ideas about how to ensure that not only private development, but also the latest public

building programme, announced this week with much fanfare by the PM, will leave a more distinguished architectural legacy than those of the recent past. One must beware of anthropomorphism,

but our virus-stricken economy seems to be recuperating with unexpected vigour. This year is the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth — not that most people will have noticed, given the

cancellation of virtually all concerts and festivals. Yet this titan among composers still sings to us across the centuries. The slow movement of his late quartet Opus 132 is headed _Heilige

Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit _(“Holy song of thanksgiving from one who has recovered to the Godhead”). In this wordless hymn, up to 20 minutes in performance, Beethoven

interrupts his _molto adagio _meditation “in the Lydian mode” with a faster, brighter section, headed _Neue Kraft fühlend (_“feeling new strength”). The effect is unforgettable. This noble

music is a vivid image of Britain today.