Whatever the science of this lockdown, the execution has been a disgrace

The benefit of having a lockdown announced some days in advance is the ability to savour what is about to be lost. People have been able to visit friends and family, not knowing when it will be legal to meet again. Parishioners have attended church to say their farewells, as have small groups of friends and family. Small shops stayed open until midnight on Wednesday to serve customers, restaurants were booked up. Yes, we face the return of Covid-19. But was also face a government that seems in a flap, unable to decide what to do.

Boris Johnson has said that this latest lockdown will last only four weeks, and there is no doubt that he means it. But he also meant it when he said, barely a fortnight ago, that such a lockdown would ‘shatter our lives and our society’ given the damage it would inflict on mental health, the economy and society.