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If you thought it was all over, it is going to be very soon.

Not the pandemic you understand that is still infecting thousands and killing hundreds

a week.

It is the lockdown that will soon end in England at least.

The man credited with inspiring it, or blamed, depending on your point of view, is my

guest on this week's political thinking, Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College

London.

His team's modelling of the pandemic warned ministers back in March that hundreds of thousands

of people could die unless the government changed strategy.

He was a regular presence here on Radio 4, explaining the numbers, the charts and the graphs.

Until that is, a newspaper revealed that he breached lockdown rules by allowing his

girlfriend to visit his house.

He resigned as a member of the government's Sage Advisory Group, but continued his work.

Earlier this month, Professor Ferguson made the headlines once again, this time with

his calculation that imposing lockdown just a week earlier could have halved the UK's

death toll from Covid-19.

Professor Ferguson, welcome to political thinking.

It's a pleasure.

It's nice to be here.

The lockdown will be all but over in England in a week's time.

At a personal level, does that mean you're nervous about the future, or rather excited

...