Boris Johnson left with eggnog on his face after flip-flop on Christmas lockdown

It was only on Wednesday that Boris Johnson was accusing Sir Keir Starmer of being the Grinch who stole Christmas.

After the Labour leader questioned whether the Prime Minister was “blundering into another major error” by allowing people a five day festive reprieve from the coronavirus restrictions, Mr Johnson bullishly replied: “I wish he had the guts to say what he really wants to do which is to cancel Christmas.”

Yet as the Prime Minister metamorphosed from Santa to Scrooge before the public’s eyes on Saturday, many could have been forgiven for wondering why he didn’t have "the guts" to pull the plug when, by his own admission, he was puzzled back in November as to why Tier 3 “wasn’t delivering the results in Kent”.

The claim appeared to cast doubt over Mr Johnson’s insistence that the sudden seasonal U-turn had been sparked by “transmissibility” data on a new variant strain of Covid that only emerged on Friday.

The last time the Prime Minister was at the Downing Street lectern he was offering us Miracle on 34th Street. What was this, Pinocchio’s Christmas?

Anyone who has ever edited Mr Johnson’s prodigious prose is familiar with his inability to meet a deadline, but leaving it this late in the day to change 18 million people’s yuletide plans - and slashing the rest of England's five-day Christmas bubble to one day - gave a new definition to the Johnsonian art of dither and delay.

Forget fudge, what we were witnessing was a festive flip flop of North Pole proportions.

They say a week is a long time in politics, and never has it been better demonstrated than Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’ tweet of December 12 celebrating “80k more seats on scheduled coach and bus services” and encouraging people to “plan carefully and book ahead.”

Dispensing with his trademark wise cracks and one liners, there was no mistaking Mr Johnson’s inner turmoil as he made the announcement no Prime Minister wants to make.

Although seeking to deliver the bad news in as matter-of-fact a way as possible, he appeared genuinely pained as he twice referred to himself “as your Prime Minister,” conceding: “It is my duty to take the difficult decisions, to do what is right to protect the people of this country.

“I know how much emotion people invest in this time of year, and how important it is for grandparents to see their grandchildren, and for families to be together.

“I sincerely believe there is no alternative open to me. Without action, the evidence suggests infections would soar, hospitals would become overwhelmed and many thousands more would lose their lives.”

Insisting he was being “guided by the science” as he wedged himself between Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s chief scientific advisor, there was a touch of “they made me do it” as he later spoke of his “bitter regrets”.

“I know how much love and care goes into Christmas,” he stressed, attempting to show the human side sometimes lacking in the boffins by his side.

Despite the current Brexit stalemate with Brussels, he even sought cover from the bloc by insisting: “Many of our European friends and neighbours are being forced to take similar action.”

But as he ordered the implementation of strict measures reminiscent of the March lockdown for those in London, the South East and the East of England, there was little room for optimism in the 1117-word statement bar the closing remarks: “As sure as night follows day, we will beat back this virus. We will defeat it. And we will reclaim our lives.”

It was not until he came to answering questions from the public and the media that a tiny bit of boosterism managed to creep back in to arguably the most uncomfortable speech Mr Johnson has ever had to deliver.

Despite repeated warnings about his penchant for over-promising and under delivering, he could not resist a quick blow on the bugle of the scientific cavalry riding rapidly to the rescue with a vaccine.

“This will be radically different for our country by Easter, I’m absolutely convinced of that.”

Yet as huge swathes of the country were left with eggnog on their faces, no one else was in the mood to count any spring chickens before they had hatched.