Johnson and Sturgeon will need a better philosophy than precaution to rid us of Covid | Simon Jenkins

When they're dicing with our lives, politicians must fully explain the reasoning for their decisions

You cannot put people out of a job on a hunch," a Glasgow restaurant owner said of Nicola Sturgeon's new drinking restrictions in Scotland, which have forbidden the sale of alcohol in licensed premises and closed pubs and restaurants across the country's central belt for 16 days. I genuinely do not understand it - and we're not being told why."

Related: Pubs and restaurants: do scientists think Covid closures and curfews work?