Whatever Johnson may say, the end to this pandemic feels further away than ever

e knew it was coming didn’t we? Infection rates still rising; hospitals filling up; people dying in numbers not seen for months. But the prime minister didn’t want to let go of a long-held hope, that 2021 would be different – better – than the ghastly year before. We all wished it too.

So, there he was last Sunday, insisting that schools were safe and that pupils should return, almost as if optimism could alter hard facts. It reminded me of occasions when my children have insisted on having some sickly-looking food that I know they won’t like, then chewed determinedly on after the initial rush of enthusiasm has worn off in a desperate bid to prove its deliciousness.

And just as my kids always admit in the end that “actually I don’t really like it”, so the PM had to confront reality just a day later – not so much following the science as backtracking to the point at which he left it.