History will always approve of the tough decisions our Government took to keep us safe in the first year of the pandemic. It showed courage and clarity. But even in that first year there were decisions that were plainly wrong – not just in hindsight, but at the time: Why were supermarkets allowed to stay open, but butchers and greengrocers had to shut? A butcher with a one-in-one-out policy would have been a safer place to shop than the overcrowded supermarket meat section.

That was the first sign the Government had closed its doors to outside advice and was failing to see a difference between improving management of the pandemic or letting thousands die.

It was a short jump from there to cynical politics when unprecedented transparency was called for. It concluded throughout the crisis that public opinion would be less forgiving of going too soft than too hard.

The Government started to be guided by politics not science.

Josie calls for a covid Royal Commission.