Header Ads

Brexit Bulletin: Ventilators and supermarket shelves

Brexit Bulletin
Bloomberg

What's Happening? Political attention is focused on the coronavirus pandemic. Brexit is inevitably making the effort more complicated.

Countries need to come together, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says—but so far his government, despite being eligible, has refused to join a European Union program to boost the supply of vital equipment for keeping ill patients alive.

Critics say this puts ideology before lives, especially when the National Health Service is desperately short of ventilators. But Downing Street says the U.K. is no longer a member of the EU—and that British companies are stepping in to plug the shortfall.

Coronavirus Latest: U.S. Deaths Top 1,000, Northern Italy Cases Jump

Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

Meanwhile, the empty supermarket shelves seen around Britain in recent days are a reminder of how fragile modern supply chains are. This week, the logistics industry formally called for Britain's final parting with the EU at the end of the year to be postponed, saying hauliers can't deal with the disruption of both Covid-19 and Brexit.

The virus has put normal life on hold—for now. The Olympics have been delayed, and the same increasingly likely to happen to Johnson's own totemic project. But once the pandemic has passed, expect Brexit to figure in any future inquiry into the government's handling of Covid-19.

Edward Evans

Beyond Brexit

We're tracking the latest on the coronavirus outbreak and the global response. Sign up here for our daily newsletter.

Click here for the latest maps and data on the spread of coronavirus.

Want to keep up with Brexit?

You can follow us @Brexit on Twitter, and listen to Bloomberg Westminster every weekday. It's live at midday on Bloomberg Radio and is available as a podcast too. 

Share the Brexit Bulletin:  Colleagues, friends and family can sign up here For full EU coverage, try the Brussels Edition.

For even more: Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access for our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close.

 

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can't find anywhere else. Learn more.

 

No comments