We are all in it together. That has been the official refrain since the early days of the pandemic, back when we first squared our shoulders, started stockpiling loo rolls and began spying on our neighbours with vigour, thermal binoculars and a time-stamped electronic notebook to hand. Or was that just me? And we are still all in it together —except when it comes to the last packet of pasta on the supermarket shelf. Or non-observance of curfews when no one is looking. Or, above all, being a government minister and/or adviser. Today, being a member of the crony-demic gang seems to mean that you can ignore all of the rules all of the time, even the ones you have devised yourself.