The front page of Bild, Germany’s best read newspaper, this morning was emblazoned with a large Union Jack and the words “Dear Britain, we envy you” written across it. Accompanying text read that “the English have announced their return to normality on June 21… and here there’s no hope”. The paper noted that a total of 17.7 million Brits have been jabbed, compared to just 3.4 million in Germany.

Bild went on to say that as Boris announced the UK’s great relaxation plan to get things normal by June, Angela Merkel told the Bundestag “We cannot define away the fact that we now have a third wave.” Her Chancellery chief Helge Braun went on to add that in Germany “March, April and May” would be “difficult months”. By contrast Boris’s plan sees almost everything other than nightclubs back in May. While Guido would like the PM to confirm that if the data allows, things can go faster, compared to countries trapped in the lumbering EU, the UK’s plan is a speedboat.