Let Easter be a time of hope for Britain ... and for freedom

THE nation felt a profound shock at the news last week that the Prime Minister had been taken into intensive care.

This particular Premier has a warmer and closer personal relationship with the people than most who have held the office. His ebullient frankness, the great force of his personality and his disarming humour make most of us feel that we know him directly.

So to hear that he was so seriously ill was especially dismaying, like a small but definite earth tremor in a region where such things are unknown. The ground beneath our feet felt less solid. The certainty of stable, decisive political leadership shuddered for a moment.

There have been the inevitable suggestions that Boris Johnson’s relapse might have been caused by a macho culture of recklessness, and that he brought it on himself by refusing to rest. This is futile. Mr Johnson’s self-belief and hard-driving style are an inseparable part of him. Complaining that he behaves like this is like a sailor complaining because the sea is sometimes rough.

Now, while he obviously should not rush back into all his onerous and tiring duties at once, we can all be pleased that Mr Johnson has plainly recovered enough to lead the thinking of the Cabinet. And it needs leading.

Some way must be found to restore normality. Public support for the Government’s actions has in fact been far stronger, longer-lasting and more disciplined than many Ministers expected. It is a great pity that some politicians have chosen to respond to this enormous welling up of selflessness and patience by suggestions of tighter restrictions, and that some police officers have used new laws as an excuse to be needlessly officious. But support has still held firm.

In some ways, the great majority of the British public may now actually be keener on maintaining the lockdown than some Cabinet members are. Mr Johnson may need to use all his powers of charm and argument to persuade the nation that a gradual process of relaxation might soon safely begin.

The economic strain of keeping so much of the country away from productive work is great. Experts are increasingly warning that quite large numbers of avoidable deaths may be caused by the unintended consequences of the shutdown, especially among currently healthy older people deprived of the social contacts that make their lives worth living.

A weakened economy would also mean less money to spend on the NHS and other valued public services in future. The understandable concentration of the NHS on Covid-19 patients may have weakened its ability to treat patients suffering from other diseases which kill just as surely if they are not detected and treated in time.

There is also the growing risk that public support for the current strict measures will fray as the hot weather comes and the current semi-holiday atmosphere gives way to boredom and irritation.

So it will suit Government and people if we now find a gradual way back to normality. Let us hope so. This has been an especially glorious Eastertide, during which much of the country has looked and felt more beautiful than it has for many years. In all our long history, Easter has been a season of optimism, of hope revived after apparent despair. Can we now begin to hope again, that after a great and generous sacrifice, we will soon be free once more to enjoy the blessings and delights of normal life?