The one thing Netflix could do to keep me subscribing

Anecdotes and statistics should never be confused, but let’s do just that to build a composite picture of today’s UK economy. As the ‘cost of living crisis’ – barely out of its starting blocks – began to eat spending power and erode confidence, high street sales fell 1.4 per cent in March while non-store retail (largely online) dropped 7.9 per cent. Office occupancy, blighted by working from home, is stuck below 30 per cent of capacity. The City of London is a ghost town on Mondays and Fridays, while West End footfall remains a fifth below 2019 levels. But in case you’re planning a resumed commute or an in-town shopping binge any time soon, be aware that rail workers are threatening ‘the biggest rail strike in modern history’. In the unlikely case that you’re launching a new export venture to Europe, don’t even think of booking a P&O ferry. And if you’ve run short of cooking oil, remember it’s rationed in all major supermarkets.

At the same time, one in 17 of us has Covid, causing disruption everywhere – but especially in leisure and hospitality. Short-staffed restaurants are plagued by customer no-shows. My own latest theatrical effort – since you ask, I was to play Denis Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Gerry Adams and Arthur Scargill in Moira Buffini’s Handbagged –is postponed after both leading ladies tested positive. American friends cancelled a London theatre-and-dining trip for fear of quarantine before they could go home.

Multiply this jumble of stats and stories by any big number you choose and you have a sense of how physical shortages, crippled logistics, war jitters and the debilitating effects of the lingering virus are combining with weak signals from Downing Street and the Bank of England to pour grit into the cogs of economic recovery. Yes, the IMF still expects UK growth of 3.7