Coronavirus and the enduring myth of Britain's 'Dunkirk spirit'

World War Two remains, for a certain kind of Brit, a living and vital presence. The increasingly-distant memory of our Finest Hour still shapes how many regard Britain’s present and future. How else can we even begin to explain Nigel Farage’s appearance to the sound of air raid sirens at one of his Brexit party rallies? Why else should our current Prime Minister have felt obliged to write a biography of Winston Churchill?

It was then no real surprise that during the early weeks of the Covid crisis many hoped for a renewed, if somewhat bogus, ‘spirit of the Blitz’. Then, with the 75^th anniversary of VE Day looming, in her address to the nation the Queen drew numerous parallels between the war against Hitler and the one against the deadly virus. Her Majesty even channeled forces’ sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn’s greatest hit by concluding hopefully: ‘We’ll Meet Again’.