A year into the pandemic – and despite a world-leading vaccine rollout that is de-risking Covid more and more by the day – we are moving glacially out of lockdown. What’s more, we are told that social distancing may be here to stay for a long while yet. Even worse, the introduction of domestic vaccine passports – the transformation of Britain into a ‘papers, please’ society – now seems inevitable.

Parliament hasn’t even been guaranteed a vote on them, as Boris, doughty liberal that he is, continues to rule by decree.