Shame on me, given my job, but only since the pandemic have I really started to understand how threadbare the UK's safety net has become. Take statutory sick pay. The UK is now at the very bottom of all OECD countries. Even Trump's America is doing more.

Some examples of other countries, versus the UK https://www.ft.com/content/51aea217-4da7-423a-9e77-50eea30fe903

There's a hard-headed reason to raise sick pay: that otherwise some people won't isolate because they can't afford to (the people reliant only on SSP are disproportionately in jobs that can't be done from home.) Skimping is a false economy.

But there's also a point of principle, isn't there? Brits are proud of the idea behind the NHS, that no-one in our country should face a financial hit because they had the bad luck to get ill. But actually, with sick pay like this, that's just not true in 21st century Britain.