Time to start a Covid cabinet

Unity is needed in virus fight

FAMILIES ACROSS England will be chiefly hoping that the new four- week lockdown will mark a turning point in the efforts to suppress the spread of Covid- 19 this winter – and many will wish to see this latest phase in the fight against the virus usher in a more consensual and united political approach.

In the run- up to the first lockdown in March, Health Secretary Matt Hancock compared the test the nation faces over the coronavirus pandemic to the Second World War.

While there are some clear differences between the two situations, equally there are undoubted parallels.

Those alive in the 1940s dealt with rationing, bombs and the tragic loss of life of loved ones. The country and the world at large is now dealing with an invisible and deadly enemy which is once again spreading through the population at pace, has no current cure and is causing terrible economic damage as well as to health.

In both cases, a united response to a common enemy is the most effective way out of a dire situation. As such, a temporary ‘ Covid cabinet’, echoing the crossparty war cabinets, should be established and include not just Boris Johnson’s key ministers but also the Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer and the heads of the devolved nations.

The UK currently has a patchwork of different types and degrees of lockdown. Officials hoped local lockdowns could minimise disruption to lives and the economy but the bleak reality is that it has not worked.

The problematic nature of fragmented measures has seen Northern leaders have to argue repeatedly for more economic support in recent weeks, but furlough only being extended when the national measures were introduced.

If the latest measures are to work, a full national approach is needed. It will not happen unless Boris Johnson makes the first move and offers the idea.