UK’s leaders must unite against virus

The emergency hospitalisation of a prime minister is a challenge for any government. For a relatively new and inexperienced administration struggling to manage a global pandemic, it constitutes an extremely grave situation. No UK government for decades has dealt with a lengthy, unplanned absence of its leader — let alone in the glare of 24-hour media scrutiny.

It is a blow to national morale that Boris Johnson had seen as his personal duty to maintain. The public will be seeking reassurance that the government can grapple effectively with the outbreak. The prime minister’s absence comes, moreover, as the government is under fire for failures to provide equipment and protective gear to the NHS fast enough, and to ramp up virus testing.

The initial strategy of allowing the virus to spread in the hope of achieving “herd immunity” backfired and was dropped, but valuable time was lost. The government faces the first review, next Monday, of its lockdown measures, with the virus expected to peak in coming days. Even now, it must start planning Britain’s exit strategy and the phased restart of the economy.

The government needs to preserve a fine balance between overreaction that would deepen the economic harm, and under-reaction that would cost further lives. Tensions between the Treasury and health department over the length and depth of the lockdown must be set aside. Even were Johnson still in place, the government should be looking to bring in further expertise, including from the private sector, to manage critical tasks.

Should the prime minister’s absence prove lengthy, existing structures will need to be reviewed. In the meantime, it falls to the four members of the C-19 committee and the rest of cabinet to close ranks and provide competent government. Too much is at stake for them to fail. /London, April 8

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