//NJ and why does the govt want to imply that "It's not safe out there"? Is it to impose some sort of fetishistic power-lust on the people, or to try to limit the damage from the virus?//
I’ve already said, I don’t know the government’s motives. If they wanted to limit the damage caused by the virus there are lots of things they could have done but didn’t which would have been far more effective. I believe they simply want to maintain an atmosphere of fear and anxiety and listening to people interviewed today who were asked for their views on the relaxations, they’ve succeeded in doing that.
//The chances of anyone double jabbed contracting the virus and developing serious symptoms are vanishingly remote." - that's your opinion and not a fact ('vanishingly'? what does that mean).//
I believe there are about 2,000 people currently in hospital who have been double jabbed. A little over 35m people have received both doses. So that’s one double jabbed person in hospital for every 18,000 (or thereabouts) . That’s my definition of vanishingly unlikely.
//Masks are more useful in preventing huffing and puffing mask-refusers from squirting their viruses out than stopping other people's viruses from getting in.//
I’m perfectly aware of that and there is no lack of understanding. Wearing a mask only benefits others. The logical conclusion to that state of affairs is that everybody must wear a mask forevermore because the virus is here to stay, it will not be “defeated”, it will not suddenly disappear. I’m not prepared to do that; it’s not a question of rights, it’s a matter of convenience.
This country is going to have to earn to live with the virus in the same way as it has lived with every other potentially lethal pathogen in the past. Hopefully we are coming to the end of this unprecedented (and in my view, in many respects unwise) experiment in government control. I note that some observers, both here and abroad, are referring to England’s relaxation of control as an “experiment”. That is not a valid description. The experiment began sixteen months ago and it is about time it was drawn to a close.