Shot in the arm for Tories too
AFTER the bleak Covid winter, the green shoots of recovery are starting to show. Boris Johnson’s mass vaccination programme is finally raising hopes of an end to the pandemic nightmare.
At Westminster, MPs have been taken aback by the success of the rollout, which passed 11 million jabs yesterday. They sense the nation’s mood is brightening. Some suspect the achievement could change the course of British politics for years to come.
An instructive moment came at the Prime Minister’s Downing Street news conference earlier this week when a member of the public invited to put a question congratulated everyone involved in the rollout. “I think it is something we can all be proud of,” the caller said.
MPs from around the country report that their constituents are coming to see the vaccination programme as a matter of national pride, the crowning glory of the collective effort that Britons have made to defeat coronavirus. Such shifts in the country’s mood can change the course of politics irrevocably.
In the early 1980s, Margaret Thatcher’s triumph in the Falklands War entrenched her Iron Lady reputation and gave her the authority to see through the radical changes she planned. Around the world, the UK went from being seen as the declining “sick man” of Europe to a beacon of can-do spirit and renewed self-confidence.
Mr Johnson’s vaccination drive could have a similar rejuvenating effect if it succeeds in suppressing the virus and allows the reopening of the economy. European commentators, who recently mocked the Brexit paralysis of the last parliament as a sign that Britons had lost the plot, are now looking on in awe as the newly independent UK hands out more vaccine doses than France, Germany, Italy and Spain put together.
Downing Street aides are understandably cautious about lauding the progress made so far. “It is a very difficult programme, an enormous logistical effort and it’s possible something will go wrong because there are a lot of moving parts,” one insider told me. “But until now it’s been a success. The whole country can see that we’re absolutely moving heaven and earth to get people jabs and frankly end this nightmare we’ve been living through.”
Senior Tories are keen to emphasise that the vaccine programme has been a genuine team effort. “There were a number of key decisions taken by the PM and other ministers, which were really critical at the early stages of the pandemic,” the source said, pointing towards the efforts of Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Vaccine Taskforce chief Kate Bingham in laying the groundwork for the rollout last year.
“We are, as a result of that, in a good position. We’re delighted that people are getting vaccinated and the PM loves going to the vaccines centres to see people getting the jabs,” the source added.
Senior Tories also remain careful about making predictions on the timescale for lifting lockdown restrictions.
“If the data is good and the vaccines are shown to be as effective as we hope and believe, there will be reasons for cautious optimism about what the rest of this year will look like,” the source added.
The pace of the vaccine rollout has turned down the volume of criticism from both Tory and Labour benches in the Commons. It is likely to enhance the authority of the Prime Minister and his team when taking the difficult decisions that need to be made to repair the public finances wrecked by the pandemic. Winning the war against coronavirus could tilt the balance of power at Westminster for years ahead.