Have you been invited to a Zoom cocktail party yet?

The CBI’s guidelines on ‘best practice for business’ during the pandemic tell the 1,500 larger companies that make up the lobby group’s core membership to prioritise employee welfare while also asking ‘how can we help’ government and society to manage the crisis. So far so good. But the notes don’t say ‘Consider a temporary cut in senior executive salaries’. And that is what I think they should all be doing, sooner rather than later, both as a gesture of immediate solidarity and as a move to avert a longer-term backlash against wealth, privilege and the pillars of capitalism.

The trend has already begun in the all-but-grounded airline sector. Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways’ parent IAG who is approaching retirement, is taking a 20 per cent salary cut for the remainder of his contract — though his pilots face losing 50 per cent. Shai Weiss, who runs Virgin Atlantic, is also giving up 20 per cent.