The case to bury political differences and fight the virus is strong

FROM parents angry that lockdown means a return to home-schooling, to Covid-deniers who suggest the tough new restrictions on normal life are based on a conspiracy, there is no shortage of people ready to say how much they disagree with the Government’s strategy for controlling this disease.

The important news, however, is that it has the backing of the Opposition, with Sir Keir Starmer yesterday standing four-square behind the Prime Minister’s decision to put the country back into a set of restrictions as harsh as those imposed in March.

That is important. There have been times during this crisis when it seemed as if politics was going to get in the way of a proper response to a national and global emergency.

In normal circumstances, challenges to the government are not only acceptable, they are necessary. We have to hold politicians to account for decisions they make which affect our lives.

But there has been a case, from the very start, for a different approach to be taken on coronavirus. Not to suspend all criticism; that would be an outrageous imposition in a free country – even one fighting a deadly pandemic – but to create a task force of all the talents in Government – including Opposition politicians and those without political affiliation – to pool expertise and experience.

Many people will have become heartily sick during this crisis of the House of Commons battles over the despatch box. Boris Johnson’s jibes at the Opposition leader, calling him Captain Hindsight, might have given the Commons sketch writers good copy, but they did not help defeat the virus. Keir Starmer’s attacks on Boris for over-promising and underdelivering similarly left many cold.

Entirely legitimate criticism of policies have, at times, begun to look out of place and irrelevant, given the nature of the battle we all face.

In was not long, at the outbreak of the Second World War, before a leader with the abilities to win was put in charge of a government of national unity, with the support and input from politicians of different political persuasions. From the start, Labour leader Clement Attlee had a role, initially as Lord Privy Seal, becoming, in 1942, the Deputy Prime Minister. The threat from coronavirus is not the same as that posed by Hitler’s Germany in 1939. But there has been a case, not followed as we know, for a similar coalition approach to this crisis, albeit in a looser form.

There are arguments both ways. It can be said that calling the Government to account from the Labour benches makes for a more efficient government. But there is a strong case, too, to say that there was never a political element to the fight against coronavirus; that Conservatives swiftly dropped their natural inclination to keep a light hand on the tiller of state while Labour too adjusted some of its views to match the need to tackle the crisis.

Whether Keir Starmer would have given up Opposition for a place in the cabinet; whether Boris Johnson would have invited him, are both moot points. We are too far into this crisis to change tack now. But, as we enter what is hopefully the last push, let’s hope peace has broken out.