When I’m on my laptop later, I must check if any IP addresses who visited this blog in the past 24 hours originate from the British Houses of Parliament. Either someone in Westminster visits this site or I’m not the only one who’s wondering about this question.

Yesterday, I asked what was holding up the Events Research Programme, something the government is running across England to try and establish how big events can be run without spreading coronavirus. Today, we got an answer… of sorts.

When will results from the Events Research Programme be published?

"Although we are not yet in a position to publish the full report… post-event data have not shown any evidence of the events causing outbreaks," says culture minister Nigel Huddlestonhttps://t.co/snqxYkX653 pic.twitter.com/otUBZQkIdZ

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) June 22, 2021

Nigel Huddleston seems to be suggesting here that the programme is basically a victim of its own success. Apparently, they’re frequently getting contacted by events organisers who are happy to help. The fact this sudden sense of civic duty is also an excuse to make money after being closed for months on end is proving quite the motivation!

However, this still doesn’t explain why the final reports from events that took place back in April have yet to be made public. It looks like the government has decided to either release one massive report at the end of the process, or they’ll all be released on one day.

If there’s any bad news at all, expect them to either be released on the last day of parliament sitting before the summer holidays – that starts on 22nd July this year. Even the Speaker of the House of Commons has complained lately about this government avoiding scrutiny in parliament.

Alternatively, they’ll come late on a Friday afternoon in the next few weeks, when precious space in weekend newspapers is at a premium and TV weekends bulletins are shorter. It’s a feeling I know well…