PM is right to join forces to defeat global scourge

AS WE prepare to mark VE Day, when the nation began to emerge with huge relief from a long and bloody war, it is time to reflect at the start of a new week.

We have a steadfast leader in Boris Johnson. In a somewhat eventful year for him, the Prime Minister came mercifully back from the brink and was then rewarded with a son.We congratulate him and Carrie Symonds onWilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson.

There is still a long way to go in combatting the coronavirus, which Mr Johnson acknowledges. But it shows the PM’s statecraft that he is now reaching out to the international community: joining forces with Canada, France, Germany and others to generate a global fighting fund to find a vaccine. Britain is giving £388million, the biggest donation so far of the new alliance, and the aim is to raise £6billion.

With the UK leading the way, this new front against Covid-19 will bring the combined expertise of the world’s scientists to bear. And once again, Mr Johnson has shown that he is the heir of internationalist politicians such as his hero Winston Churchill.

His is the right way forward, as the fight against Covid-19 should bring cooperation rather than competition between countries. Indeed, it is an epochal opportunity to build bridges to universal benefit – a challenge that Mr Johnson instinctively understands. In his fine words, it is “humanity against the virus… and together we will prevail”.Amen to that.