The truth, as the saying goes, is a time-release pill. Three years on from the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, we’re getting closer to identifying the origin of the virus, we’re discovering government decisions were guided by politics as much as “the science”, and the consequences of the lockdowns – that will be felt for generations – can now be honestly talked about.

When The New York Times last month allowed its star columnist Bret Stephens to write an oped titled “The mask mandates did nothing. Will any lessons be learned?” , it was obvious something is changing.