Kelly’s Eye

IT’S scarcely possible to conceive what sort of pond life spits at nurses in the street and abuses them as “disease spreaders”, because of the daily dangers they face on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus.

But isn’t it slightly hypocritical to denounce such behaviour and then sanctimoniously reproach anyone stepping outside their homes, to the point of even snitching on them to the authorities?

The simple truth is that nothing remotely comparable has befallen us previously, and the country has actually reacted with commendable speed to our unprecedented new way of life. Of course, people sought to make the most of their remaining freedoms until the PM tightened the restrictions.

We are social animals who do not appreciate being cooped up. You only have to look at the astonishing pictures of empty streets in our major cities to see how the population has since adapted to Boris Johnson’s measures. His evident reluctance to introduce them is a reminder that his intuitive grasp of wider national sentiment still serves him well. If only all our police forces possessed similar antennae.

Humberside police’s online portal encourages users to report on neighbours they think might be breaking social distancing rules. Derbyshire police’s drones spy on dog walkers in the Peak District. Other forces are reprimanding people for sitting alone on park benches.

All help make this a golden age for the jobsworth and moralising guilt-tripper, whose relish for judging others is as close to the surface as the more authentic authoritarian and censor is in many supposed liberals.

Remarkable ingenuity is already being displayed, such as the breathing aid developed in under a week by a University College London and Mercedes Formula One team that keeps patients out of intensive care.

The antibody testing of millions moves nearer reality.We even found a pack of toilet roll to buy this week. Carpe diem – not carping about our fellow Britons

– is the surest way out of this crisis.