Perhaps the trait I most admire about the Dutch is their tendency to express themselves in a direct, straightforward fashion. It is an honesty that at times is uncomfortable to live with. In the UK we are, perhaps, the past masters of compromise; looking for merit in any argument and attempting to be scrupulously even handed, even when the truth is perhaps staring one in the face. Covid-19 continues to mete out painful lessons about our mortality and vulnerability. It has, as many have opined, widened fissures in the fabric of our country and is catalysing rapid change away from previous certa…
