Once again Boris Johnson has failed to act, and again he is serving his own interests

Editorial: No new legal measures have been introduced to curb Omicron; the prime minister cannot move because his party will not let him

(Brian Adcock)

It hardly needs to be stated that no government of almost any kind, let alone a free, democratic one, likes to impose restrictions on its people’s most basic liberties. At various points over the Christmas period, new, legally binding restrictions have been or will be imposed in Wales, in Northern Ireland and in Scotland.

These include limits on the numbers of people who can meet indoors and outdoors, in different kinds of venues. In Scotland, pubs have been restricted to table service only, and only three households may mix together. In Wales and Northern Ireland, nightclubs are shut, alongside various other limits on social interaction of the kind we are all too familiar.

Political leaders take these measures with unimaginably extreme reluctance, and they do so because their scientific advisers have warned them of the consequences coming down the line if they do not act.