Florence McCrae

The British economy shrank by over one fifth in April as a result of countrywide lockdown, new ONS figures indicate. The Office for National Statistics have said that this “historic” fall is the largest monthly contraction since records began, worse even, than the 2008 recession.

To say Picasso was prolific would be something of an understatement. At the time of his death in 1973, he left 45,000 surviving works, and ten surviving dependents. It seems he was also too busy to leave a will.

Tory backbenchers are calling on the government to reverse the 2-metre social distancing rule in England.

Those who live alone in England will now be allowed to stay at one other household following the latest statement from prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday evening.

Creating 400 new works is hardly a conventional response to the outbreak of Covid-19, but then again, David Shrigley is hardly a conventional artist. Shrigley, whose corpus has been described as “mordantly humorous cartoons”, has taken over Twitter and Instagram alike, long before the pandemic ever hit.

A global pandemic is perhaps not conducive to art sales. Indeed, the art industry, supported by international art collectors supports an estimated $60 billion industry, employing over three million people in 310,00 businesses, is struggling to say the least.

At this evening’s daily briefing, prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce the official reopening dates for zoos, safari parks and drive-in cinemas. This latest step in easing lockdown regulations will indicate that such establishments can reopen from this Monday, as long as they maintain social distancing rules.

As protests go, students at Glasgow School of Art surely merit points for ingenuity. Following what they refer to as being “betrayed” by management, students are refusing to release works for their end of year show.

The government has announced that some primary school pupils in England will not go back to school until September, in a change to the previous plan. All pupils had been expected to return to school for the four weeks prior to the summer holiday, however, this is no longer considered feasible.

Scotland has reported no new deaths as a result of Covid-19 for the second day in a row. First minister, Nicola Sturgeon is “optimistic” that coronavirus restrictions in Scotland can be further eased on 18 June in recognition of this.

The 50th anniversary edition of the Art Basel has been cancelled as a result of Covid-19. The fair, originally planned for June, had been postponed until late September, however, the decision was announced late last week to cancel the event entirely.

Boris Johnson has said that this weekend’s anti-racism protests have been "subverted by thuggery" following clashes between some protestors and the police. The prime minister continued that he believed individuals had the right to protest, however, that the violence had been a “betrayal” of the cause.

In its 20-year tenure, the Wodehouse prize has only recognised four women as suitably funny to merit such an award. In recognition and frustration of this, Helen Lederer founded the Comedy Women in Print prize two years ago, to acknowledge the contribution of women to comedic writing.

When it comes to fatal bites, Snow White and the poison apple take a close second to Ed Miliband and his infamous bacon sandwich. In 2014, when the former Labour leader decided to treat himself to breakfast, he effectively called time on his political career. Who knew the humble bacon bap was the great leveller of the modern era?

Sir Ed Davey has launched his campaign for leadership of the Lib Dems, with a promise to improve the conditions for carers. Sir Ed has filled the role of acting Liberal Democrat leader since Jo Swinson stepped down from the post following the 2019 election, in which the party lost ten seats.