There was an audible sigh of relief in England at the start of this week as children went back to school. Learning and socialising with peer groups recommenced, and parents were relieved of the unenviable challenge of juggling childcare and work commitments, a balancing act made all the more difficult both by their having to take the role of educational supervisors and by the effects of children being isolated from their friends.

It feels like the week also saw something of a watershed in how the government is levelling with the nation over the roadmap and its driving factors. The politics seem to have been largely overtaken by the science. We have been told that easing lockdown will inevitably cause upward movements in the R rate from time to time, that, sadly, we should expect a sizeable number of further Covid related deaths over the coming months, although daily death rates will fall, and that government policy in relation to the road map will be driven by the science. A few government back benchers and a couple of red top newspapers apart, this approach, which is a far cry from the blue sky hyperbole which we heard at many times in 2020, seems to have been generally accepted. Whilst there are concerns about levels of lockdown compliance by some, most seem to be getting on with it with a tired but quiet patience.

Having said that, the politics have not retreated entirely. This week’s rows about the cost and efficacy of the test and trace programme in the UK and NHS pay, as well as the ongoing claims and actions which have taken place in the EU in relation to vaccines, have reminded us that politics are still at large. But they have been largely pushed down in the list of priorities as we all now wait for 29th March and the road map’s staging posts beyond.

They have also been relegated by that interview and its fallout. Last week, I referred to its build up as a soap opera, given the style and content of the pre-broadcast teasers. Since the broadcast, it has been an extraordinarily generous gift to the news media, somewhat ironically given their role in the circumstances which led to it ever taking place at all. I’m not going to comment on its content, but the interview has raised a number of important issues.

On the broadest level, it has brought the nature and incidence of discrimination into very sharp focus. We have had anti-discrimination laws on our statute books for some years now, and we have a tendency in the UK to think of ourselves as a broadly tolerant and inclusive society. The debates which followed the interview have made it clear that we have no cause to be smug about it and that we have some way to go before we reach a level of daily living which matches the aspirations which underpin those laws.

Mental health is another debating point. Our transition from regarding mental illness with suspicion or derision to it being seen as a de-stigmatised part of our health and wellbeing is under way, but far from where it needs to be. Mental health is now much more widely discussed and thought about, but it has been under-resourced and insufficiently understood. The journey through lockdown has been tough for many people from a mental health perspective, and some effects of the lockdown will be long lasting. It’s an important debate in many aspects, not least how we resource and make available effective help and support for those who need it both now and for the future.

Whilst it’s awful to see family disagreements laid quite so bare, I’m sure that the institution of the constitutional monarchy will ride this one out. Whilst the institution of the constitutional monarchy does not seem to be threatened, the Palace is not immune to public opinion and not above responding to it.  It will be interesting to see what changes, if any, are made in how the Royal Family presents itself to the nation and the rest of the world. I’m also sure that Piers Morgan will find another lucrative home in which to rant away to his heart’s content. This week has simply proved again that it’s no longer a problem if those presenting the news step over the line so that they themselves become the news. He has spoken a lot about the right to free speech, but there has to be an acceptance that the opportunity to speak freely into the nation’s living rooms should carry some responsibilities with it, a matter which is likely to be overlooked by the next employer to offer him large sums to boost their viewing figures.

Enjoy your weekend, and for mothers and their families everywhere, let’s hope that the pared-down nature of this year’s Mother’s Day is part of a journey back to freedom which ends sooner rather than later.