HISTORY doesn’t repeat itself, although some of us who like studying and learning from history are sometimes guilty of thinking it. But many commentators have drawn a comparison between the present moment and the political developments of the 1960s. This comparison is valid and we should learn the era’s lessons.

In the 1960s the US was in turmoil. The civil rights movement was on the march. So too was the anti-Vietnam war movement and there was the rise of the women’s movement fight for equality.

The current situation does not exactly mirror that. But we are facing the worst global public health crisis for a century. There is, too, huge and well-founded concern about the economic impact of the crisis and what that means for jobs, for living standards, public services and the environment.