Act now to prevent winter of discontent

IT’S WELL known that Boris Johnson is a fan of the classics and seems to be able to speak and quote Latin or ancient Greek at will. But, it might be appropriate if he turned to a classic of a different kind and brushed up on some Shakespeare. As winter looms, could some of the best known words from one of Shakespeare’s plays come back to haunt him?

“Now is the winter of our discontent,” Richard III famously proclaimed – and of course we all know what happens to him (don’t worry about grabbing your phone to Goog Google it, I’ll explain later). The testing time times the Government seems palpably un unable to respond to concern the abysm mal state of the test-and-trace programme and the questions this has raised about providing test kits and advice to schools and to care homes.

A week ago Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it would take two w weeks to fix the “teething problems” of the system the Prime Minister had said would be “world beating”. In truth, it can cannot even solve the issues in England, let a alone the UK, making global aspirations laughably off the mark. On Tuesday, under unyielding pressure from a hostile Commons, Hancock revised his position and said it would now be fixed “within a matter of weeks”. How is anyone supposed to derive any comfort from this?

The PM was making the promises again at Prime Minister’s Questions but they continued to ring hollow as the facts told a different story. A survey on my LBC breakfast radio show showed not one test available in the top 10 Covid hotspots. A mobile test centre destined for Bolton never turned up and in Manchester people were turned away. A Twickenham couple were told the nearest location that could provide tests was 541 miles away in Aberdeen so they logged on using an Aberdeen postcode. They were directed to, yes, you guessed, the rugby stadium at Twickenham!

When Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer masks his menace by suggesting Boris should ask for patience he could be on to something – save for the excuses already employed as the debacle has unfolded. In July people were being told to get tests “if they were a bit worried”. This was quickly replaced with muted criticism of many of us making “frivolous” demands for tests.

That was changed again when Mr Hancock said the system had been overwhelmed.

But hang on – two months ago we were told we’d have a world beater!

The Government has been caught napping, again. How could it not have seen that when schools were reopened and parents could hopefully return to work, cases were likely to soar? A glance at the

ANY OF YOU who have driven in the darkness of late nights or early mornings in any of our major cities will be heartened by the news that the e-scooter revolution has been stopped in its two-wheel tracks. The rental of these death traps has been halted in Coventry after users were seen riding on the pavement and in shopping areas – both of which are illegal, it should be said.

In France, restrictions have been put in place after a number of deaths and serious injuries involving riders. Virtually every rider you come across has neither lights nor helmet and, in most instances, there is simply not enough room on the road.

This needs a thorough review before it can be allowed to continue.

European countries we’re not allowed to travel to would have highlighted that.

Those promises keep on coming. The daily test capacity is 240,000. It will rise to 500,000 by the end of October. In December it will be two million, and five million in January. Never mind a pinch, a ton of salt won’t help us swallow that.

And just as those targets are meant to be reached, the NHS will have to go through the most challenging period it faces each and every year: winter.

So back to Richard III and his wintry concerns. He reigned for only two years and was the last of his line. For 500 years he was regarded as one of the worst rulers this country has endured.

If Boris needs reminding how the monarch was undone I could always lend him my school copy. And I’ll “test” him on it.