ANALYSIS
THE hour of freedom is almost here. From Monday, most of the legal Covid restrictions will be lifted as Britain finally begins to emerge from the pandemic.
But the overwhelming mood of the nation is one of caution rather than celebration, which is understandable given the recent surge in virus infections.
Indeed, across all regions, the number of positive cases are at their highest levels since January. But, even against this backdrop, there is no reason for either gloom or any official retreat from liberalisation.
All the signs are that we have already reached the peak of the third wave. More importantly, the vaccines are proving a formidable weapon for taming the impact of the virus. That is why, with two-thirds of the adult population now double vaccinated, rates of Covid hospitalisations and deaths have remained comparatively low. So this is a moment to hold our nerve.
As the Government advises, we should exercise personal responsibility and restraint – for instance by wearing face masks on public transport or in supermarkets.
We cannot immediately go back to normality, but, equally, a return to any form of lockdown would be a disaster.
One of Boris Johnson’s missions is to ensure that a post-Covid revival benefits all sectors and regions. He is determined that the resumption of normality is not accompanied by the entrenchment of traditional inequalities.
The goal of “levelling up” or “rebalancing” the economy has been central to his vision of post-Brexit Britain ever since he entered Downing Street in 2019, but it has been given new impetus by the pandemic. This was the key theme of his speech in Coventry yesterday, as he spoke of boosting living standards and community pride in every part of the country. With some justification, he argued that a prime cause of inequality is the centralisation of our political system on London.
The answer, he urged, was to embark on a process of real devolution, which would empower local government and strengthen local leadership. But many Tories are profoundly suspicious of this “levelling-up” agenda.
They think that the relentless focus by the Government on the North and the Midlands means the neglect of the Conservative heartlands in the South, a fear that was reinforced by the recent shock loss of the Amersham by-election – partly through a revolt over the Government’s pledge to stimulate regeneration by planning reform.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister was keen to stress that gainers in the North did not mean losers in the South. “Levelling up is not a jam-spreading operation. It is not robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is not zero sum. It is win-win,” he said.
This was not a vintage Johnson performance. There were too many cliches, not enough specifics, particularly on the mechanics of devolution. Nor did he explain how planning liberalisation might create more affordable housing, rather than just serving as a developers’ charter.
Yet the very fact he felt the need to give a reassurance to the South shows that his message on rebalancing the economy is getting through.
Many previous Tory premiers, who lacked his boldness to become a Friend of the North, would have envied him this problem.