Fumbling Johnson’s legacy as the other Churchill
As much of Europe slowly gets back to its feet and reopens, Britain’s Boris Johnson presides over a country still reeling from his own government’s sluggish response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The United Kingdom’s death toll now exceeds 40,000 people — by far the worst reported in Europe — and is expected to get much worse in the weeks ahead before it gets better.
In contrast, many of its European neighbours appear to be on the rebound.
In Germany, plans will soon be in place to reopen borders and encourage holiday travel. In Italy, bars and restaurants are about to open. And in France, schools are making a staggered return.
But in Britain, the mood is glum and a backlash against Johnson’s fumbling approach is beginning to develop.
Decades ago, in the 1960s and ’70s, Britain was derided by many politicians and commentators as “the sick man of Europe” because of its industrial strife and poor economic performance compared with the Continent.
Once again, that label is being used about Britain, and it is ironic that its prime minister, still recovering from his own near-fatal bout with the coronavirus, is the human embodiment of it all.
Last Sunday, Johnson unveiled a confusing plan to ease the restrictions imposed since March 23 and encourage “more outdoor exercise,” a gradual
“return to work” and restricted use of public transport.
But in spite of its limited scope, the plan was widely condemned by many in the public. A poll taken this week by YouGov found that almost half of the country (46 per cent) believed that Johnson’s changes went too far.
This was consistent with other surveys that have shown that the British are perhaps the most fervent supporters of a lockdown in the world. An Ipsos Mori poll at the end of last month indicated that only 23 per cent of Britons believed that the economy and businesses should be reopened even if the virus is not fully contained.
That is much lower than in other countries — where there is intense
impatience to get the lockdowns ended — and analysts attribute much of that to the British prime minister’s own brutal experience with COVID-19.
Johnson spent a week in a London hospital last month, including three nights in intensive care, declaring afterward that the country’s National Health Service “saved my life, no question.”
Not surprisingly, the public’s emotional response to Johnson’s plight was supportive, even though he had bragged before his illness about how “proud” he was in shaking the hands of COVID-19 patients. Regardless, his approval ratings shot up.
But with the country’s death toll now rising, it is telling that his popularity appears to be declining. Incredibly, the latest YouGov poll this week shows that the new leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, is now more popular with the British public than Johnson. This is just one poll, but it may be pointing to a new direction in
U.K. politics.
No longer does the Conservative prime minister of Britain have the luxury of an inept, unpopular Jeremy Corbyn as the leader of the opposition party.
Instead, Starmer — a former human rights lawyer who was fervently antiBrexit and whose moderate politics could be described as “social democratic” — has received impressive reviews from many media commentators, including in the right-wing press, for his forensic cross-examination of Johnson.
In the Independent, commentator John Rentoul wrote: “This was the week we saw how Keir Starmer might win the next election.”
In the conservative Daily Telegraph, which used to employ Johnson as a columnist, its parliamentary sketch writer, Michael Deacon, wrote: “Labour’s new leader is calm, polite, and utterly merciless. He doesn’t rant or shout put-downs. Instead, he asks factual questions designed to establish whether or not the Prime Minister knows what his own government is doing … And this week — like last week — the Prime Minister didn’t have the answers.”
Johnson’s great hero is Winston Churchill, and he is passionate about wanting to be compared to him.
Ultimately, Johnson may get his wish, but not in the way he would want.
Churchill is best remembered for successfully leading Britain through the Second World War, and inspiring his country never to give up, even when things are going badly.
But the “other” Churchill — before he became British prime minister in 1940 — was remembered by some historians as a reckless adventurer and unprincipled opportunist.
As we look back at how Johnson has handled this pandemic, and look ahead to the inevitable wreckage that his support of Brexit will further bring Britain’s economy, that latter description of Churchill does seem familiar, doesn’t it?