For many Londoners, receiving post, catching the bus or train to work, or getting cared for in hospital when we fall sick are all things we take for granted.

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But these everyday luxuries depend on an invisible army of frontline workers – many up hours before we get out of bed and many still working when we fall asleep.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a stark reminder of how vital these workers are. It was our doctors, nurses and teachers, our police officers, firefighters and delivery drivers, our bin collectors, shop workers and public transport workers who put themselves in harm’s way to keep the rest of us safe and our country functioning.

For a brief moment – as we stood outside our front doors clapping on a Thursday evening – we recognised a fact we’d long ignored: it’s the jobs that our society so often underpays and undervalues that are the most essential. We can live without our footballers and our TV personalities for a few months - however painful that may be. But we can’t survive without our frontline staff, even for one day.

I’d love to say the pandemic marked a step change in the way we respect and respond to frontline staff in our city. Sadly, though, there’s been a........

© LBC