The depressing spectacle of ‘freedom day’

It was billed as ‘freedom day’. Yet few people, it seems, either want to enjoy their new-found freedom or are able to enjoy it. The Prime Minister won’t be going clubbing; he is one of several hundred thousand people – it was 336,000 in the week to 7 July – who have been ordered to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace in the past few days. These are in addition to the half a million people ‘pinged’ by the NHS contract tracing app who have been asked to self-isolate, although in their case it is not a legal requirement.

For these people, it is no freedom day – it is a return to the darkest hour of lockdown. In fact, it is worse than that. At least during full lockdown we were all allowed to go out to the shops, or for exercise. The unprecedented numbers being caught by Test and Trace do not have that freedom – they must stay at the address where they are isolating 24 hours a day.

Many tens of thousands of people who thought that the government had given the green light for foreign holidays this year have been left disappointed.