Covid demands an united front

Johnson must learn lessons

IT IS an irony of timing that Boris Johnson addressed the nation – and extended Covid social restrictions for the duration of winter – exactly six months after he took the unenviable decision, again on primetime television, to place the country in lockdown.

The Prime Minister had indicated on March 23 that the measures then would be short- lived.

“We are accelerating our search for treatments. We are pioneering work on a vaccine. And we are buying millions of testing kits that will enable us to turn the tide on this invisible killer,” he declared.

Now, six months later, Mr Johnson is again asking people to show a “new spirit of togetherness” – and warning of more draconian restrictions to come – after a sudden surge in Covid cases and, tragically, deaths, appeared to take some Ministers by surprise.

However Mr Johnson’s rallying cry over the nation’s “collective destiny” and “collective health” does not mask his government’s culpability and how every U- turn, the latest being the return to offices, undermines now fragile confidence when the PM is effectively saying that the UK is only at the halfway point of this pandemic.

Earlier Mr Johnson’s statement to Parliament only made passing reference to the job implications, particularly for hospitality and retail, ahead of the furlough job retention scheme running out. Nor would he accept criticism about shortcomings in policy over test and trace, the crucial line of defence until a vaccine is developed.

A key issue now, as the public come to terms with this speech, is whether the PM should take a more collegiate approach by involving Opposition leaders, senior metro mayors and First Ministers of the devolved nations in a daily Covid cabinet. Only by working together – and with far greater unity of purpose – will the country be better placed to make more effective progress over the next six long months.