A few more reflections on the balance of communications that the government faces in enforcing Covid rules and the practicalities that the police face in doing exactly the same.
There were just under 130,000 police in England and Wales at the end of March last year.
The population of England and Wales is about 60 million.
Clearly, there are not enough policemen to police if you or I are going to the neighbors’ house for a glass of wine.
And is it a glass of wine or a legitimate and legal support bubble?
No one really knows from the point of view of enforcement – because what happens inside a home is private.
Except, of course, when it’s so loud that the whole street can hear and the police are called.
These violations – which many would consider outrageous – are easier to detect for the police and easier to secure the support of the majority for more difficult policing.
Consequently, these new measures: difficult new measures that are likely to be supported by the vast majority.
The government keeps the vast majority alongside this specific measure and gives the police more power to deal with the problem.
But as we all behave, hour by hour, day by day, with potentially minor violations here and there, it has the potential – cumulatively – to be much more significant with regard to the transmission of the virus.
But the government and the police realistically have only one tool there: persuasion; the hope of being responsible.
Ministers also hope that, because they are seen as tough on the worst rule breakers, it does not make the rest of us feel like an idiot for doing our part.