Abolishing Covid restrictions now is bold, brave – and necessary

Shortly after Covid emerged, our civil liberties were suspended. The government took control of when and for how long we could leave our houses, and children’s right to classroom education was abolished. The idea was that lockdown would prevent catastrophic loss of life and the collapse of the NHS. But when that was no longer a serious prospect, the justification for restrictions vanished. The big question was whether governments would hold on to the emergency powers anyway — with identity cards, testing regimes and ‘no-jab, no-job’ policies.

In Britain, the answer is — thankfully — now clear. We have become, along with Denmark, the first country to draw a line underneath the pandemic and return government to its proper relationship with the public. In abolishing all domestic restrictions, including the law obliging those with Covid to self-isolate, Boris Johnson has made a bold and brave decision. After two years and some calamitous missteps, he now looks to have found his feet.