Queen’s death has taken us away from the crisis we’re in

The Queen will finally be laid to rest tomorrow after a royal funeral which will signal an end to 10 days of national mourning.

While there has been an outpouring of grief for the late Monarch, the period has also been in large part a celebration of the British constitution and appointment of King Charles III.

It has felt like someone pressed pause on reality and allowed the country to be transported back to a halcyon age when Britannia ruled the waves and the UK was an unparalleled, universally revered economic powerhouse. If those days ever did exist, they couldn’t be further from the bleak present truth Tuesday will bring.

Hundreds of thousands of workers – from teachers to rail staff and nurses – who placed potential strike action on hold will resume increasingly bitter pay negotiations likely to lead to walkouts.

Millions of people are facing the biggest squeeze on their finances in decades due to soaring inflation that is decimating incomes. Attention will refocus on rocketing energy bills which – even taking into account promised government help – will have doubled in the last year.

The NHS is on its knees and excess deaths from all causes are at almost record levels despite Covid deaths decreasing significantly.

It is a hugely worrying development which some experts believe is down to a tsunami of undetected and untreated illnesses which were allowed to fester over lockdown.

Whatever the cause, it will take a huge amount of investment to remedy at a time when public finances have seldom been more stretched.

Living standards for millions of people are plunging and internationally an increasingly polarised geopolitical landscape threatens only to make things worse.

The war between Russia and Ukraine rages on and shows no signs of ending any time soon despite notable gains made by Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops.

That means lives will continue to be lost, while wholesale gas prices in Europe – as a result of Putin turning off the tap – will remain so high hundreds of billions in government support will be required for UK households indefinitely.

It is turning into a war of attrition between East and West which will be devastating for both sides economically, while the unimaginable spectre of nuclear war lurks in the shadows.

The Queen’s death has taken attention away from a government and a Conservative PM, Liz Truss, that were already flailing.

And a right royal mess to which they appear to have no coherent answers.

Millions of people are now facing biggest squeeze on their finances due to soaring inflation