Dear readers,
In 2020, the fun-loving cavalier turned into a Christmas-cancelling puritan. But this year UK prime minister Boris Johnson looks set to relax again, presiding over ever-loosening restrictions. On Monday he promised a “one-way road to freedom” as he unveiled a strategy for return to normality by June 21 — midsummer’s day.
That’s too slow for some. One MP described the announcement as a “hammer blow”. Some overstretched pubs are still fearful they will have to call time for good. But the timetable is in line with Lex’s prediction back in December. A note titled “Midsummer Gladness” argued that would be the point when vaccination would allow a return to semi-normality.