We need a better way to manage an economic storm

Inside Business: There must be an alternative to the government’s Thatcherite fantasy of disaster capitalism

The UK economy is at a crossroads with robots and climate change set to have a huge impact on jobs like this one (Getty)

There are a number of ways of dealing with the economic hurricane being whipped up right now by robots and the march of tech, climate change, and potentially the most reactionary and stupid form of Brexit you could imagine. Thanks BoJo!

Option one has been the default of governments of varying hues: you pretend to care, claim to have a strategy, manage decline. It amounts to hoping it will all work out if you hand out some disposable brollies to the people suffering the worst effects of the storm.

Option two is the current fantasy favourite of a hard-right Conservative Party. You shove everyone outside in T-shirts and jeans and see who’s left standing when the gale has blown itself out while watching from a comfy home fortified by your offshore investments. It’s our old pal disaster capitalism, a neo-Thatcherite dystopian horror show.