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Fraser Nelson reports on Boris Johnson’s inexcusable retreat from liberalism. A slice:

Now, as a Prime Minister with a 83-strong majority, he is forcing through an even more expansive (có thể mở rộng, có thể bành trướng, có thể phát triển, có thể phồng ra, có thể nở ra, có thể giãn ra; có xu hướng mở rộng, có xu hướng phát triển, có xu hướng phồng ra, có xu hướng giãn ra; rộng rãi, bao quát), illiberal (hẹp hòi, không phóng khoáng; không có văn hoá, không có học thức; tầm thường, bần tiện) and intrusive (bắt người khác phải chịu đựng mình) version of the scheme he pledged to scrap (hứa gỡ bỏ). We’re told that he’s curtailing liberty with a heavy heart, but no one has explained why he is pressing ahead with it. Blair, at least, had an open debate in parliament so MPs such as Johnson could make their case, ask questions and vote against the plan. Johnson’s government prefers to avoid debate and instead have the private sector do its dirty work. Voluntary systems are being established, but with the clear threat of government making business impossible for companies that don’t oblige.

The pandemic has shaken faith in liberal democracy: opinion polls show huge support for curfews (lệnh giới nghiêm) and quarantines (cách ly). Johnson himself has remarked in private that he has been amazed at how easy it is to take freedoms away — and how hard it is to give them back. It’s quite possible he has concluded his liberalism was for an era that perished in (chết, lụi tàn) the pandemic (đại dịch). Some of the most liberty-loving Tories have looked with envy (nhìn ghen tị) towards Asian countries whose surveillance technology (công nghệ theo dõi/giám sát) seemed to do a better job of stopping the spread of Covid. The future may well be one in which the government knows your temperature wherever you go, and vaccine passports may be welcomed as an alternative to blanket lockdowns.

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