The news is full of parties; Christmas parties held in Downing Street to which we, and apparently the Prime Minister, were not invited. Parties held when we were under the last lot of Covid restrictions when we were all told to avoid unnecessary social contact. For many, this brings back memories of Dominic Cummings’s trip to County Durham at the start of the first lock-down; then there was the rather close physical contact between the former health secretary and one of his aides earlier this year. It does seem like one law for them, one law for us; the powerful do not share the world of the rest of us.

There is a danger that we can be excessively judgemental when we read these stories; I’m aware that I have not always followed Covid restrictions to the letter . But I understand the anger of many (including politicians supportive of the government) at these incidents; the feeling that we really should all be in this world together. We can contrast this with Christmas, when the ultimate power, God, entered this world as a human, fully human to ultimately suffer death. Whatever political rulers may do, God is with us; God does share our world.