By defending his most senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson has demolished a sense of moral obligation, undermining the public spirit that says “I will if you will”. He has allowed Britons all to follow their “instinct”, not the contact tracers’ instructions. Prof Stephen Reicher, of the Sage behavioral insights subcommittee, says: “Johnson has trashed all the advice we have given on how to build trust and secure adherence to the measures necessary to control COVID-19.”

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