I wonder what your plans are for Christmas? It very much looks like this year will be the first one in my adult life that will be celebrated without members of my extended family.

Yes, I know we can have our five-day, three-household bubbles but I’m still struggling to come to terms with the logic of allowing these multi-generational gatherings, given all the sacrifices we’ve made for almost a year with multiple lockdowns and tiers, social distancing and shop and business closures.

I could perhaps have accepted it a little more if schools had broken up earlier to allow children to isolate for a couple of weeks before they started hugging granny but as with many of this government’s decisions I don’t think logic has been applied to any great extent.

It strikes me as madness given that vaccines are on the way, but I am prepared to accept the wisdom of one of my colleagues who believes the government had no option other than to relax social distancing rules because many people would have just taken a chance and ignored them anyway over Christmas.

The government does like to use its wartime metaphors but I really don’t think you can negotiate a Christmas truce with a virus. You won’t be playing a no man’s land football match with Covid-19.

Giving the go ahead for five days of socialising and mixing does cause problems other than health issues, notably exactly who is going to be in your bubble.

For those of us who are determined to protect ourselves, as sad as it might have been, the ‘no mixing’ rules were easy to follow. Everyone could simply plan to hunker down in their own homes. Yes, you may have been lonely this Christmas but at least you would have been safe and following the rules.

Now households up and down the country are having to have difficult conversations with gran and granddads, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.

Take, for example, my own family. Usually my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter spend part of Christmas with us and part with the in-laws.

That can’t happen this year because those festive bubbles have to be exclusive so we have had to have the upsetting chat this year to ask them not to come to us.

So yes, it’s certainly going to be lonelier this Christmas for us, but hopefully safer and healthier.

The more I think about it, the more I think the question we should all be asking ourselves when it comes to our health is exactly who do you trust more, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove or medical experts.

My money is on the experts.

As the government’s chief medical adviser, Prof Chris Whitty, said: “Would I want someone to see their family? Of course, that’s what Christmas is about.

“But would I encourage someone to hug and kiss their elderly relatives? No, I would not.

“It’s not against the law – and that’s the whole point. You can do it within the rules… but the fact that you can do something doesn’t mean you should if you want them [elderly relatives] to survive to be hugged again.”

Please stay safe everyone.