It’s a great relief to be out of London, where there was an increasing sense of cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, there is a premature sense of celebration that the government has somehow beaten the virus through its vaccination programme, so that we can all celebrate Freedom Day and victory at football by abandoning any precautions, including social distancing and the wearing of masks; and, on the other, watching the statistics of rapidly increasing infection, the closure of local shops and restaurants ‘due to unforeseen circumstances’, and the fact that so many people are having to self isolate, particularly those with children at school and university. I suppose it is a calculated risk not to have to remain in any form of lockdown, but it may not be seen to have been such a great idea to those who get Long Covid, who may look back on the jubilation of the Tory backbenchers without quite the same enthusiasm, particularly once we have 100,000 cases a day as predicted.