Being prepared

Only a day since the Queen died at Balmoral, but the Royal Mile is already lined with shiny new crowd barriers, and viewing platforms (for the media, I suppose) are in place for the arrival of her coffin at St Giles.

We are supposed to pride ourselves on how well we do ceremonial but, faced with the evidence of such a meticulous and swiftly executed plan for which all the resources must therefore have been in store and on standby, I was reminded of the total absence of such planning by the government that the covid crisis exposed.