Coronavirus: Boris Johnson's government needs help to fight this disease Kenny MacAskill

This is, after all, what will happen to members of the public. They need support and more, as this is going to be essential for both workers and small businesses. But it will have to be reimbursed at a later date, whether in direct or indirect taxation. Therell be an account for all of us.

Hence the need to support large companies from public funds provided that they generate much higher future returns than a simple promise to be a little more promising in terms of Corporate tax. Too many people have already deceived us with this ruse and let the PAYE taxpayer pay his share, because corporate tax returns have been strangely elusive, if not non-existent.

Equal suffering, equal shares

During the Brexit debate, I found the wartime references to be in bad taste. They were both belligerent and on the verge of xenophobia about people who are our friends or allies, whether they are inside or outside the EU.

But there is a closer analogy with the experience of World War II with these troubled times. To sustain a total war, there had to be not only fair shares of suffering, but more equal shares in a future world. It was during this period that our welfare state was created, and even nascent state institutions began to be designed here in Scotland by Tom Johnston, arguably our greatest secretary to the state. ;State. They would transform the lives of many of our residents and huge parts of our land for the better, on both sides of the border.

I have no doubt that this would not have been established to the extent that it had been if Churchill had not won the elections in 1945. But certain things, such as nationalization and certain universal benefits , were already underway and even the Conservatives should have delivered or maintained some of them. It was the price to pay for a war of the peoples. Dealing with this coronavirus crisis requires similar commitments.

All must endure and therefore all must be able to benefit from its past. We have to provide for everyone, and to be fair, the Conservative government made welcome announcements, not only on statutory sickness benefits, but also on ESA and universal credit. Likewise, recognizing the need to provide for those who are supposed to be economists is also both laudable and vital. The challenges concern all of our society, not just the corporate sector.

There is still a distance to cover and we will have to see how these directions unfold in practice. But it's still a welcome.

It can be argued that immediate access to these benefits should have been available before this crisis, as hardship and misery were endured by many. I certainly think so, but other than that it will be difficult to remove them once they arrive, as happened with the war benefits. They become the norm and, having paid a price, all have the right to demand a return.

How ironic that a dose of socialization is prescribed by what was apparently the rightmost administration of living memory. But since Attlee was happy to support Churchill when the country needed it, I and others can do the same with Johnson. But he must improve his game and show that he is a Churchill, not a chamberlain.

Kenny MacAskill is SNP MP for East Lothian