Mark Dolan: It pains me to see what's happening in Wales and it's a warning to the rest of the country.

Do you remember the good old days? When something didn't work, you stopped doing it? Especially if what you were doing had negative consequences. Enter stage left the Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford

His Labour government are bringing in new measures to tackle Wales’ high Covid rates - the worst in the UK. Strange – they’ve had the stricter measures since the summer. Covid passes in Wales will be extended to cinemas, theatres and concert halls from 15 November as part of the plans.

Pubs, restaurants and cafes may also require passes if infections climb, amid a "wider repertoire of actions".

So the Welsh government, as we have seen to a more extreme degree in New Zealand and Australia, have opted for the approach of every totalitarian in history. If the policies are not working, double down and inflict them on the population with more determination, with more coercion and ideological glee. Damaging measures including mask mandates, vaccine passports and social distancing - which impact the economy and society – do not appear to be having the desired effect. If they were effective, Sweden, Florida and others would have a catastrophic, eye-watering Covid death toll. They don't. Florida has a lower age-adjusted death rate than lockdown-loving California and now boast among the lowest cases in the whole of the United States. They’ve been free for months!

This is all down to the political courage of this man: Governor Ron DeSantis, who has been labelled called Ron Death-Santis for his decision to go early lifting all restrictions.

His critics have gone very quiet. But being wrong doesn't seem to matter any more and it doesn’t provoke a change in policy. It's like losing a football match ten nil, and not changing formation, but sticking with the same your tactics. Who cares the other teams are winning with a different approach. None of this is opinion by the way. Sweden have seen a tiny fraction of the economic damage suffered elsewhere, their kids stayed at school, they haven't exploded their national debt or ignored other illnesses.

Sweden have won the argument. They suffered 15,000 very sad deaths from or with Covid. I stress from or with Covid, because it's important to contextualise these figures given the co-morbidities of so many who sadly lost their lives. The average age of death was over 82. That in a country that didn’t lockdown or have mask mandates and 15,000 sad deaths out of a population of ten million people.

Terrible to have one death, but it's not exactly Armageddon is it?

It’s a fraction of our per capita death toll and look at the damage we’ve had here. Look at what we’ve been through. Meanwhile Lithuania is effectively a police state now, with the most authoritarian vaccine passport regime in the free world, mask mandates and yet cases are through the roof.

Let's just compare no lockdown Sweden to police state Lithuania.

When will we accept that this dreadful virus - which we all hate - cannot be controlled? And certainly not without such colossal damage as to be worse than the disease itself. And I wish we could talk about something else. I really do. I'd rather show you cat videos. But as long as these policies remain a possibility, or in the case of beautiful Wales are a sad reality, I have no choice but to use this platform to speak out. Take my word for it, my life would be a lot easier if I hadn't spent the last year and a half asking what the hell we are doing. In this febrile atmosphere, speaking the truth feels like a criminal offence.

Anyone that's supportive of lockdown, at this stage in the cycle, with the data in and with countries to compare to, needs their head examined. If you still back future restrictions, you either have no information, no brain or no empathy. No country in the world that didn't lock down has a disproportionately higher death toll.

The trajectory is eerily similar everywhere. Virus gonna virus. There is noticeably a lack of honesty about the failure of lockdowns and a lack of transparency about their amazing damage. Not just from the countless lost lives, the non-Covid death toll of untreated cancer and other illnesses will obviously dwarf that of Covid. The University of Bristol predict half a million deaths from the recession alone. But we have wrecked lives too. Why is it ok to wreck lives? Every boarded up shop means someone’s unpaid bills, laid off workers, repossessed homes, even a visit from the bailiff. I defer to the brilliant comedian Abi Roberts who is a specialist in mic drop tweets.

Like Abi and millions of others, I am angry. And I care so much, partly because of my job. Because almost every day since this started you've told me your stories and I won’t look away, I won’t ignore and I won’t shut up. I never have done and I never will.

It's terrible to see the Welsh first Minister double down with these measures. And it's telling how happy many figures on the left are, to wield control over people. It's in the DNA. But Boris has done it too. So he can hardly call himself a Conservative.

We’ve got so many viewers in Wales, we get so much correspondence and it's the most incredible country. So it pains me to see what's happening and it's a warning to the rest of the country.

Now I would never say that you should break the rules or the law. The rule of law is what makes this country great. But you can peacefully make your voice heard.

History will judge this madness harshly, but at least you will know that you stood up and were counted.

This doesn't end until we say it is.