Should I stay in or should I go out now? If you can’t make up your mind, don’t worry. Nor can the Government.
On the one hand, today is supposed to be part of a bustling post-lockdown urban recovery. It’s the start of a week in which advice on working from home has changed. Office workers are being encouraged to return to their desks.
It’s also a day on which London’s restaurants hope you are feeling hungry. The Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme begins, which means cut-price grilled prime cuts at Hawksmoor, or the chance of a bargain Michelin-starred meal with £10 off each.
On the other hand, it’s a day on which the usual Downing Street sources are briefing apocalyptic rumours of what might happen if London’s low but rising infection rates keep climbing.
Travel from the capital beyond the M25 could be banned. Meeting friends and family at home could be prohibited. All international travel could be subject to quarantine.
We can hope that these measures won’t be needed. But it’s right that plans are put in place to act fast — after all, it was delay back in March that let death rates soar.
What is not right is the way these decisions are being taken: in private, on prime ministerial whim, without Parliament and without any credible involvement from the London businesses affected, or the city’s political leadership.
No prime minister, in peacetime, has taken on such power to dictate the way we live our lives. Confidence in his ability to use them well is not high.
He would do well to do so much more openly, working with others. Unfortunately, that is not how Downing Street is run at the moment.
One result is the confusion which means people are being urged to eat in restaurants while being warned some of us might soon not be able to leave our homes.
Another is the bad habit of announcing massive shifts in the rules through late-night tweets or partial briefings, not public statements.
Londoners hoping for clarity and leadership may be looking to the city’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, instead.
Unfortunately they will find only evasiveness and silence. He has mostly limited his involvement to repeated calls for more funding from central government for things such as furlough.
There’s been no spark of originality, no sense he has what it takes to lift up our city and bring it through to recovery. Will he ever be able to show it?
Meanwhile, London tries to reopen — while worrying about what may be coming next.
A sporting success
In Pictures | Arsenal vs Chelsea, FA Cup Final 2020
Great sporting events create amazing scenes and lasting memories, and it is a tribute to everyone involved in getting live sport going again that already that’s happening.
There’s Arsenal’s 14th FA Cup win at the weekend. There’s Lewis Hamilton winning the British Grand Prix, finishing his last lap on three wheels after a tyre puncture. We’ve had a fantastic three-match Test series against the West Indies, with closely fought contests.
Next come three more Tests against Pakistan. The cricket County Championship is back and Andy Murray seems set to play at the US Open.
Yes, we’ve missed the crowds: but the drama is still real.