Sorry, I can’t give thanks for this sliver of freedom

The sun is out, the birds are tweeting, the dulcet tones of next door’s scaffolders are drifting through the open window of my sitting room — but, for some reason, I’m not full of the joys of spring.

I know I’m supposed to be grateful. After all, it’s been a long, cold, lonely winter for so many, and I am one of the lucky ones. Far too many souls have not made it through, and there is a deep and lasting sadness in that knowledge.

But there is something about the notion we are all meant to feel delirious because some tiny crumb of freedom has been bestowed upon us by our Covid overlords that irritates the hell out of me.

Oh, whoopee. I can share a Sainsbury’s Meal Deal with someone in the park. I can sit in my own back garden with a friend. Five friends, to be exact. Gee, thanks.

excuse me for not doing little jumps of delight because, for once, I’m not risking a hefty fine or an Asbo just to engage in what is perfectly normal human behaviour.

SOwhAt if this easter Sunday we’ll be allowed to sit shivering in the rain with a few mates eating wet sausages off soggy paper plates? Are we supposed to be happy about this state of affairs?

I can’t say this prospect thrills me. After all, it’s pretty thin gruel compared with the freedoms that, little over a year ago, we all enjoyed. And that was before we had a vaccine and half of us had Covid antibodies because of it.

I don’t care if this brings down the wrath of the lockdown evangelists upon my head. All I can say, when presented with these pitiful scraps of liberty, is: ‘Please sir(s), I want some more.’

Is it so wrong to want to stand in the Post Office queue without someone glaring at me if I stray 0.05 of a centimetre off the sticker on the floor? to want to eat in a restaurant with friends? to want to book a holiday without being forced to cancel at the last minute? to want to go to Italy to visit my parents, who I haven’t seen since 2019 and who, quite honestly, could really use my help?

I know there are those who believe we should never go back to normal. who think we should all work from home in perpetuity, conduct our relationships in cyberspace, homeschool our children and continue to swell the coffers of Amazon and Deliveroo by never stepping out of our front doors.

But we have to reclaim our liberty. we simply don’t have a choice.

Lockdown is a disaster not only for our sanity, but also for our economy. As we report today, the economic cost of Covid is £521 million per day; furlough alone is costing £139 million a day; and the Government’s borrowing costs are £973 million per day.

It is a fantasy to think these figures won’t have dire, long-lasting consequences that will dog us for decades to come.

And that’s not all. Lockdown’s been disastrous, too, for the very thing it was designed to protect: our health service.

true, the NhS was saved from being overwhelmed by Covid cases this winter but, in the months and years to come, other diseases will take their toll because tens of thousands of patients suffering from them have been neglected for the past year.

Cancers, heart disease, depression: they will all, eventually, claim their victims. why do these people’s lives matter any less?

As I say, we have a vaccine. It may not be 100 per cent effective, but it’s good enough. And we are in a far, far better position than many other countries, whose roll- outs have been hamstrung by bureaucracy and political incompetence. Indeed, on this it is fair to say that Britain has led the way.

So let’s continue to do so — speed up our road to freedom and show the world how to live life to the full again.

Why have the unions, who were so vocal about the need to keep schools closed to ‘protect’ teachers from Covid, said and done nothing in support of the Batley Grammar School teacher who has been forced to go into hiding with his young family after showing an image of the prophet Muhammad to his class? Surely when one of their own is subject to death threats simply for doing his job, the unions should be the first to stand up for his rights. But so far, nothing, not even a message of support. Cowards.

A FrIeND of mine got taken in by that Post Office scam the other day; you know, the one where you get an email purporting to be from royal Mail saying you owe a fee on a package.

he was busy and not really paying attention, so he put in his card details.

Before he knew it, he’d received a text thanking him for his purchase and saying his new mobile was on its way to Manchester (he lives in London). Luckily, the phone company smelled a rat and intercepted it; but there’s no doubt these things are on the rise ( See Money Mail: Page 39).

the latest to get me was a Zoom invitation from a friend to her online wedding anniversary celebration. I texted her to say how much I was looking forward to it, and she replied telling me she’d been hacked and it was a scam. But, by then, it was too late: I’d already sent her flowers!