Across the UK, online, on DAB and on your smart speaker, the Independent Republic of Mike Graham, on Talk Radio.

Good morning and welcome to the Independent Republic of Mike Graham right here on Talk Radio.

Does anyone else feel like we are getting to grips with this ghastly virus, finally?

Now, I don't mean to say that everything is fine and everything is done,

and we are all over it like a rash.

What I am saying is that for weeks and weeks, we have been prepared by this government for what is now happening.

The stagnating economy, the challenging

world of work, the self-isolation, the closure of everything but food shops and petrol stations,

the perils of travelling without permission and the rising number of cases of coronavirus itself.

While we still await the fine print on how everyone is going to be helped through this crisis

financially, there is definitely a feeling out there that we are beginning to realise just how serious this all is and exactly what we have to do

to beat it. Here in Britain, we pride ourselves on our culture of fairness, our tendency for

neighbourliness, our love of helping others and our kindly nature. Just yesterday, more than half a million

people volunteered to help the NHS battle COVID-19. They will work as telephone operators,

drivers, cleaners and delivery people. What an astonishing reaction to this ghastly situation.

It really does make you feel quite proud to be British and it makes me feel very hopeful for

the future. This morning we would love to hear from anyone who has volunteered and we also want

you to let us know what you are hearing, what you are seeing and what, as ever, you are being told. Let's forget

about the tiny minority of idiots who are still flouting the stay-at-home orders, the moronic

panic buyers who seem to be thankfully on the wane and the spotty youths who don't think that

they can get sick in any way, shape or form. Let's instead champion the decent people and the good companies out there,

like Hertz, the rental car company,

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