Why Boris Johnson’s failings will make managing a second coronavirus wave far more tricky

The litany of government blunders over the course of the pandemic has sapped its moral authority. If this week has shown one thing, Sean O'Grady concludes, it’s that the public isn’t listening anymore

A social distancing warning sign is displayed against a backdrop of a crowded Bournemouth beach (Getty)

What to make of the various congregations of people – contrary to all official guidance – in Brixton, in Liverpool or on the beach in Bournemouth? Or of the widespread protests in recent weeks, all technically illegal?

Before even some of the lockdown relaxation was supposed to come into force, large sections of the British public seem to have decided that the war against coronavirus is, for them, joyously over. Media headlines about “Independence Day” on 4 July and pints in the sunshine haven’t helped a measured movement towards normality.