Construction work at the Nightingale Hospital, the jewel in the crown of the government’s faltering response to the coronavirus pandemic, was nearly brought to a juddering halt on Thursday morning. It was a Whitehall farce that lays bare the chaos and confusion that has gripped the government.

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC), a joint industry and government body, had issued guidance on social distancing at building sites. Unless workers could remain at least 6ft apart, it said, “work should not be carried out”. Building firms deluged the council — and at least one cabinet minister — with warnings that they would have to down tools at every construction site in the country, “up to and including the Nightingale”. The guidance was swiftly reversed.

According to