Authority figures have carefully crafted an artificial state of emergency and heightened hysteria to forge numerous ‘rules for thee, but not for me.’

As a 'journalist', Derbyshire should be critical of the Government where criticism is needed, and goodness knows it's needed now.

The absence of any cohesive strategy behind the ‘new normal’ means anything goes, as long as it leaves society in a kind of spotless, bleached-out, virus-free state of pristine lifelessness.

The government, gripped by this panic, along with the necessity to be perceived as doing something, has not just sold off the family silver, but thrown the savings onto the bonfire.

We must always remember that dictatorship is often grasped gratefully by the populace it rules over; and that liberty is never a battle that is won, but a forever ongoing struggle.

Actually showing substance as well as a smooth style would allow Labour to capitalise over the Conservatives’ vulnerability over the economy currently, which is being masked by Labour’s failures in this department.

The Government has a lot to answer for relating to its mishandling of the coronavirus; as does the ‘opposition’. But we mustn’t let the media off the hook for the role it has played too.

Sharp-witted and full of vigour, an 83-year-old from Barnsley yesterday spoke more sense than has been uttered by our Government, broadcast media and official scientific advisors for the last eight months.