Boris brought to his sneeze

MAKE no mistake, the BBC is set on pursuing its disastrous policy of dragging the over-75s through the courts for non-payment of their TV licence fees.

Do older folk really deserve to be taken to court by an organisation that regularly splurges our cash in needless ways?

Write to me c/o Daily Star Sunday, One Canada Square, London E14 5AP

HE’S not even 100 days into his premiership, but Boris Johnson faces the prospect of being judged on the basis of events beyond his control.

This winter’s floods brought devastation and rising anger in much of the country, but Boris isn’t the first PM to face such a test.

Rather, it is the coronavirus crisis that has the power to derail his administration.

If we are forced to move to the type of lockdown Italy has opted for and the economy collapses, it will be the Government that is held accountable.

It should have been oh-so different for Boris. Buoyed by his thumping majority at the General Election, he went for broke.

This week’s budget unleashed £600billion of spending on infrastructure projects with a promise of jobs aplenty. There’s £27million to be spent on motorways and roads, and £5bn for high-speed broadband. And that doesn’t even include the work being created by moving to the next stage of building the HS2 high-speed rail link.

By 2022, total public spending will top £1trillion for the first time in history.

With Brexit back on track and his government able to borrow cash at almost record low interest rates, what could possibly go wrong for Boris?

Simple. A pandemic that has caused thousands of deaths. The economic damage it brings could be nothing short of catastrophic.

Shares have been in freefall and business confidence is shredded.

The decision by the Bank of England to cut the interest rate from 0.75% to 0.25% is hugely significant as they’ve now fired their last bullet. All this and the peak of the crisis could still be 10 to 14 weeks away. Chancellor Rishi Sunak attempted to tackle the virus with a promise of unlimited cash for the NHS, sick pay on demand and help for smaller businesses.

But it will be the cut in interest rates that he and the Government hope will stimulate the economy.

But while the Chancellor and the Bank can talk up the economy and play down the crisis, they cannot manufacture customers, clients or business.

The PM has warned us we could lose loved ones. Boris must now do everything he can to delay this virus spreading, otherwise his premiership could be another victim.