If the Government are prepared to let Sir Ian Taylor have a crack at his self-isolation trial, one can only hope they will give some of his fellow business colleagues a crack at the idea of sorting out MIQ. 

Everyone sees MIQ for what it is. Liam Lawson was the latest on the show this week, telling us of his misery and anger at the crap-shoot way it still treats people. 

My daughter was in line again yesterday, although yesterday was different.  

Each time she has a crack, she gets a number like 17,267th in queue. Worst, I think was well over 22,300th. At that number you just roll your eyes, say something about it not being fair, wait until the window closes, go back to your day, and make the appointment for the next time you line up with everyone else. 

But yesterday her opening number was 3260th. Is the two-year wait about to be over? Is 3260th a number that could actually get you a space? Would she get a magical space? Would she get one of these 14-day rooms? 

14 days, think about it. Remember when 14 days stuck in a crappy room was the actual story? Remember when we kept hearing from people complaining about the food and the boredom? Oh god, to return to those days of comparative misery. 

These days, it's the weekly heartbreak for tens of thousands all over the world, as they get given mad numbers that only mean one thing, you don’t stand a hope in hell, sucker. 

But then, from 3260th we move to 58th. Surely, that is a ticket home? But then up comes the message, rooms are low and about to run out. The window is due to close in a few moments. 

And then, she was at 18th. 18th? They could stick the last 18 in one room, we'd take that. 

But, no. Window closes, thanks for coming, but it's over. 18th was close, but it wasn’t close enough. It's hard to know what to say to a daughter who has been in a multiyear queue and got that close. 

It's a cruel and heartless game. You're better off with the big laugh at the start being 22,000th, 18,600th, or 12,500th because you know where you stand. 

58th to 18th? That's a taste of the prize. That's so close it hurts. And it did hurt. It hurt her and it hurt me. 

The infuriating thing is there is a better way. A points-based system and the Sir Ian Taylors have it and they want to help, but the maniacs running the country don’t want to know. 

People like my daughter and thousands like her all over the world are paying the price.