End the infighting

A MONTH ago, only the most optimistic of us would have thought the country would be in such a good place today.

As Omicron took hold, and the pedlars of doom howled for tougher restrictions, who didn’t fear another lockdown? Yet it never happened. And daily, there are welcome signs we are beating the pandemic.

Covid self-isolation is being cut from seven to five days to ease crippling staff shortages in business and public services.

Infections in England are plummeting and the proportion of patients in hospital because of (as opposed to ‘with’) the virus has fallen to half.

Best of all, experts say Britain will be the first Western country to break free from Covid (although, predictably, the biased BBC turns a deaf ear to this).

Thanks for this go to Boris Johnson. He inspired the jabs rollout and commendably defied demands for new curbs. Fingers crossed, he’ll soon rip up Plan B.

With chief shroud-waver Sir Keir Starmer in charge, Britain would have spent the past two years in unending lockdown.

Of course, the Prime Minister now fights for his political life over ‘Partygate’. Time will tell if he survives the scandal.

But for now, Tory MPs must end the damaging infighting and manoeuvring. It is a self-indulgent distraction from what the public desperately wants – getting their lives back.

ON Wednesday, this newspaper praised Transport Secretary for pledging to tackle the deadly failures of smart motorways. Depressingly, we spoke too soon. We now learn extra emergency laybys will be delayed by years. This betrays not only the families of drivers killed on these death-trap roads – but every motorist who risks their life on them.

HEAVENS things: above! It’s that rarest of A traditional Tory policy. Dominic Raab plans stiffer community sentences to crack down on criminals. Wearing hi-vis jackets, they will repay their debt to society by tidying up litter-strewn towns and countryside. It’s the first time we hope offenders make a clean getaway.