BORIS: MY BATTLE WITH INVISIBLE MUGGER
PM’s warning as he’s told opening schools may mean lockdown lasts even longer...
BORIS Johnson pledged yesterday to level with the public about the ‘difficult judgments’ ahead as experts warned that reopening schools in June would mean other parts of the lockdown had to stay in place for longer.
On his first full day back in Downing Street, the Prime Minister spoke optimistically about entering a ‘second phase’ of the battle against the coronavirus in which some of the crippling restrictions can be relaxed.
The PM said this phase would see the Government ‘continue to suppress the disease... but begin gradually to refine the economic and social restrictions, and one by one to fire up the engines of this vast UK economy’. But he added: ‘We must also recognise the risk of a second spike, the risk of losing control of that virus... because that would mean not only a new wave of death and disease but also an economic disaster.
‘We would be forced once again to slam on the brakes across the whole country and the whole economy.’
Speaking on the steps of Downing Street, the PM hinted that any easing of the lockdown in the coming weeks would be very gradual and would involve difficult trade-offs.
Mr Johnson is under intense pressure from business, backbench Tories and some ministers to begin easing the lockdown. He said he understood the ‘impaindicated tience’ of people to get the economy going, adding that without the private sector there would be ‘no economy to speak of, no cash to pay for our public services’.
‘I can see the long-term consequences of lockdown as clearly as anyone,’ he said. ‘I entirely share your urgency – it’s the Government’s urgency.’
Mr Johnson pledged to involve the public, business and opposition leaders in striking the right balance between controlling the epidemic and returning to something like normal life.
‘These decisions will be taken with the maximum possible transparency,’ he said. ‘And I want to share all our working and our thinking, my thinking, with you, the British people.’
Mr Johnson, who spent three days in intensive care battling the disease, likened it to an ‘invisible mugger’ which the country had ‘begun together to wrestle to the floor’. He added: ‘This is the moment of opportunity – this is the moment when we can press home our advantage (but) it is also the moment of maximum risk.’
He paid tribute to the public for the ‘sheer grit and guts’ shown in accepting the restrictions on Britain’s ‘ancient and basic freedoms’. Government sources that ministers would start to spell out some of the choices in the coming days.
These include the possible reopening of some retail outlets, such as garden centres, and discussion about whether to reopen schools after the half-term break at the end of next month.
The Prime Minister is also set to replace the existing ‘Stay Home’ slogan with a more relaxed message.
Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said the virus was circulating at a low enough level to allow some ‘room for manoeuvre’ in easing restrictions, but added there was ‘no perfect combination where we can do all the things people want us to do’ and still keep the virus under control.
He warned that any decision to reopen schools in June would mean restrictions in other areas staying in place for longer.
Last night there were signs that the decision on schools is so finely balanced that different parts of the UK may move at different speeds. Plans for the phased return to school for children in Wales are due to be announced today. In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon has said children could go back part-time to allow for social distancing in the classroom.
Yesterday, Mr Johnson chaired his first meeting of the Government’s ‘war cabinet’ for three weeks. He is expected to chair a Cabinet meeting on Thursday and will hold one-to-one catch-up talks with senior ministers. He will also hold talks this week with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer aimed at trying to agree a ‘consensus’ on the way forward.
His spokesman said his doctors had given him the green light to return to work ‘full time’ after two weeks of convalescence, but aides are limiting his public appearances.