Parting present from the partying PM?

Whether or not this was a last minute ploy to try and detract from the ongoing partygate scandal and save what little remains of his political reputation and career doesn’t really seem to matter.

The work from home edict which has been catastrophic for struggling town centre sites, and the imposition of covid passports on the late night sector have added to the burden of a sector that was already overly penalised throughout the course of the pandemic.

The fact these are now being, hopefully permanently, parked will be a huge relief to many across the industry that have found themselves unfairly impacted.

We’ve seen the success the imposition of more stringent rules have had in Wales and Scotland… oh, wait, no, we didn’t.

Did restrictions work?

One does actually wonder whether the decision to tell people to work from home or the use of covid passports actually really had much impact on controlling the spiralling number of omicron covid cases.

People still seemed to be getting it, left, right and centre yet the severity and consequences proved to be minor - unlike the damage that was done to hospitality businesses, some of whom may not survive the winter now as a result.

However, isolation rules remain in place, albeit cut to five if you can get hold of enough lateral flow tests to prove you’re negative, and they continue to cause headaches for operators around the country.

The severity of the omicron strain makes isolation a mockery, with people sheltering with mild to no symptoms, while businesses struggle.

The suggestion that self-isolation rules will eventually be scrapped, or not renewed, by March 24 is a welcome move, although I do wonder if that timetable could be nudged forward a little.

As we potentially see out the last few days of BoJo’s reign, wouldn’t it be nice for the Partying PM to give us a last little welcome present on his way out the door?