The Prime Minister’s latest conference on the Coronavirus was a masterclass in nudging, rather than telling. It gave the impression of a government so keen to avoid appearing didactic or authoritarian, that it ended up being less than clear.

You are not forbidden from social contact, just advised to avoid unnecessary social contact, and it is “particularly important” for those over 70 and vulnerable groups. Does that mean it is less important for young and healthy people? Johnson called this a “draconian” step but it didn’t sound draconian at all.

Because London is ahead of other parts of the country, “it is important that Londoners pay special attention … and take particularly seriously the advice about working from home and avoiding social spaces.” Again, does that mean the advice can be taken less seriously in other parts of the country?

Large public gatherings are not banned. Simply: “We will no longer be supporting mass gatherings with emergency workers in the way that we normally do.” So, in theory, go ahead with that massive gathering but there won’t be an ambulance on hand. He said that this meant “emphatically moving away from” large public gatherings. Why not just cancel them?

Asked whether he was closing pubs and clubs, Johnson answered, “What we’re doing is giving very strong advice that public venues such as theatres should no longer be visited. The proprietors of those venues are taking the logical steps that you’d imagine. [ie shutting their doors!] You’re seeing the changes already. As for enforcement, we have the powers if necessary but I don’t believe it’ll be necessary to use those powers.”

This won’t be much comfort to pubs and clubs — they’re not technically being closed, just starved of customers until they close themselves.

The liberal instincts of this prime minister go deep, and the result is very different messaging to what you see in Europe. He clearly thinks of it as a point of pride, as he put it to Robert Peston:

We’ll see how clear they found it. Sometimes, even in a liberal democracy, it’s better to be clear than polite.

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Freddie Sayers is the Editor-in-Chief & CEO of UnHerd. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of YouGov, and founder of PoliticsHome.

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