This is a time for Britain to be bold
On this day 80 years ago, the country stood on the brink of its worst military disaster. The British Expeditionary Force in Europe was trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk by the rapid advance of the German army. Some 350,000 soldiers faced capture or worse. Winston Churchill ordered the start of Operation Dynamo, the assembly of as many little ships as could be mustered, to cross the Channel to pick them up. By June 4, most of the Army was off the beach and on their way home. The miracle of Dunkirk saved the country.
We are not in a war, nothing like it; but the country faces a crisis that to some extent replicates the aftermath of conflict. In seeking to suppress the coronavirus pandemic and avoid the NHS being overwhelmed by serious cases, decisions were taken to close down much economic activity and social interaction.
Unlike in a war, which goes on until victory, defeat or an armistice, the virus cannot be vanquished. Its impact can be mitigated, and perhaps a vaccination developed, but it is something we will almost certainly have to live with for decades.
The question, therefore, is at what point can it be said that sufficient progress has been made in suppressing the contagion in order to begin normal life again? In London, very few cases have been recorded in recent days. Is that not good enough? Across the UK, the infection rate is falling markedly and dozens of NHS trusts have had no Covid deaths in the past week.
This is great news and should be shouted from the rooftops, but we continue to be assailed by a litany of gloom and urged to stay indoors. In this glorious weather, people should be urged to get out and about since transmission in the open air is negligible. Yet day trippers are still being ushered away from beauty spots by the police and told to go home by tourist boards usually desperate for their business.
Children should be going back to school because the risk to them from the virus is minuscule. Teachers fearful of infection should be assured that if they take reasonable precautions they will not get the illness and, if they do, most will be only mildly ill. The feared second wave has not materialised.
As Boris Johnson told the Commons yesterday, a “world-beating” test, track and trace system will be up and running from June 1. The battle is being won. The Prime Minister can claim credit for it. Yet at the moment it is as if the Army is getting off the beaches at Dunkirk and no one being told.
Mr Johnson was elected last December because voters were attracted to his infectious optimism and can-do attitude that the country felt was needed to see Brexit concluded. Now it is required in far more serious circumstances.
The Prime Minister has set June 1 as the date for starting the long haul back to normality with a return of some schools. He needs not only to stick to the timetable he has set out, but accelerate the reopening of bars and cafés (why can’t they put tables outside?) and most shops, and explain why the trepidation felt by many is no longer justified.
A lack of confidence is holding many risk-averse people back and Mr Johnson is the only one who can reinvigorate it.
As Parliament is now in recess, he should make another TV broadcast that focuses on the welcome evidence showing how low the infection rate now is. That will help people make a better judgment of the threat than some of the confused messaging we have been hearing.
In the Commons, he put up a more combative performance against Sir Keir Starmer, whose legalistic line of questioning is out of tune with the times. The Labour leader should be joining with the Prime Minister in encouraging a return to normality, not siding with those seeking to place obstacles in the way.
Absolute safety can never be guaranteed, so the time for boldness is now. Mr Johnson was entrusted by the country to lift the nation’s spirits and turn potential disaster into triumph, as we did 80 years ago. This is his time.
Mr Johnson’s infectious optimism and can-do attitude is required to begin a return to normal life