Batten down for a bumpy winter, PM warns
Boris Johnson says we face ‘very tough’ period but defends lockdowns, test-andtrace and curfew for pubs and restaurants
BRITAIN faces a “very tough winter” and “bumpy months” in the run-up to Christmas and beyond, Boris Johnson warned yesterday.
The Prime Minister said that while he hoped things would be “significantly different” before the festive period, there was “no doubt” that the UK faced a difficult period as it grappled with a second wave of coronavirus.
His comments, ahead of this week’s virtual Tory party conference online, signalled a marked change in tone from just two days earlier, when Mr Johnson insisted the Government was doing “everything we can” to make sure that Christmas is “as normal as possible”.
He told The Andrew Marr Show: “I’ve got to tell you, in all candour, it’s going to continue to be bumpy through to Christmas, it may even be bumpy beyond, but this is the only way to do it. This could be a very tough winter for all of us and we’ve got to face that fact.”
‘People are furious with me’
Challenged over the imposition of local lockdowns, he said he understood why people were frustrated at apparent inconsistencies between areas.
He added “I totally get that”, when it was pointed out that people were questioning why in Oldham only 20 people were allowed to attend a funeral but 30 people could in Manchester despite infection rates being higher.
However, Mr Johnson said that while he accepted that people were “furious with me”, he could not accept calls from some critics to “let it [the virus] rip”.
He rejected suggestions the measures were not working, despite a tenfold increase in cases in Manchester since restrictions were imposed in July, insisting it was “simply too early to say.”
“We’ve put a lot more load back on to the risk factor, in the sense that we’ve got schools back, we’ve got businesses back, things are moving again in a way that they weren’t during the lockdown. But we’ve also managed to keep hospital admissions much, much lower than during that period,” he added.
‘Inappropriate’ in a crisis
Pushing back against Tory backbench criticism over his handling of the crisis,
Mr Johnson said the Government was forced to balance the need to protect lives with keeping the economy afloat.
Attempting to reconcile the two competing priorities, he said his message to the public was now to “behave fearlessly but with common sense”.
“I think if people wanted me to approach it with the sort of buoyancy and élan and the qualities I usually bring to things, I think people would think that was totally inappropriate,” he added. “The struggle we have now is to contain that pandemic and yet to keep our economy moving. And what I can certainly tell you is that as soon as we have done what is necessary and we have got the virus under control ... you will see this country and this Government really accelerating our progress.”
‘Don’t hobnob outside pubs’
With the Government facing mounting criticism over the 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants, he insisted the measure was necessary to limit transmission. Asked for the scientific justification, he said it was evident that infection rates were being driven not only by household mixing but also in bars and restaurants, “particularly as people get more convivial as the evening goes on”.
When challenged over scenes of people congregating in large groups after closing time, he added: “It makes no sense if having followed the guidance for all the time in the pub they then pour out into the street and hobnob in such a way as to spread the virus.”
Test and trace failings
The Prime Minister acknowledged frustrations with the NHS test and trace system. Asked why only 38 per cent of people were receiving tests within the 24-hour target window, he said: “It is not perfect, I’m not going to claim it’s perfect. Am I frustrated with it? Yes, of course I’m frustrated with it. Am I going to blame NHS test and trace ... of course I’m not.”
Pressed on whether a vaccine was possible before the end of the year, he said that while he believed “significant progress” could be made it was wrong to “get people’s hopes up ... unnecessarily.” However, he said scientists were “virtually unanimous” that by spring things would be “radically different”.
‘Only the Maltese are fatter’
Mr Johnson dismissed speculation that he was still suffering from the effects of coronavirus as “drivel, balderdash and nonsense” as he reiterated that he was “too fat” when he caught the disease.
He added that the pandemic had been a “teachable moment” for the UK as it had highlighted its problem with obesity. “We are fatter than virtually anybody else in Europe, apart from the Maltese, for some reason,” he said.
Asked about Donald Trump’s health after the US president was diagnosed with Covid-19, Mr Johnson said that he is “going to be fine” and was receiving the “best” medical care available.
In defence of the Union
The Union i s one of the country’s “greatest achievements”, Mr Johnson said, as he insisted Brexit represented a “huge opportunity for Scotland”.
After Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, accused English coll eagues of “defeatism” over t he prospects of Scottish independence, Mr Johnson said: “I think he was talking about those who don’t value the Union in the way that I do and I think that the Union is one of the great achievements of this country.”
He appeared to rule out a second referendum, insisting the six years since the last one did not feel like the “once in a generation” vote promised by the SNP.
‘UK can live with no deal’
The Prime Minister said a trade deal with Brussels was “there to be done” but that the UK could “live with” walking away without an agreement.
“The EU needs to understand that we’re utterly serious about needing to control our own laws and our own regulations,” he added. “And similarly they need to understand that the repatriation of the UK’S fisheries which were lost in 1973 is very important.”
Mr Johnson said the UK was merely asking for the same terms it had granted to Canada, adding: “I don’t want the Australian-wto type outcome, particularly, but we can more than live with it.”
‘Yes, of course I’m frustrated with it. Am I going to blame NHS test and trace ... of course I’m not’