Why does Britain lack the lockdown discipline of France?

There was a touch of schadenfreude as I heard that Britain has followed France, Italy and several other European countries in locking down. In the last week or so there have been a number of articles about how Britain would never impose on its people the draconian measures taken by Emmanuel Macron and others because their countries, unlike ours, have a history of authoritarian government.

Boris Johnson was admirable in his wish to avoid locking down the country but the indiscipline of millions of his people left him no choice. Boris can’t be blamed for the packed pubs last week, the teeming parks at the weekend or the street barbecues this week. Nor can he take the rap for the stripping of supermarket shelves up and down the country, a phenomenon which in Europe is unique to Britain. It may be connected with the fact that a WHO report in 2018 stated that we Brits are the third most obese nation in Europe (after Malta and Turkey) and the ‘world champions’ for alcohol consumption.