Johnson’s ineptitude costs lives

BORIS Johnson seems incapable of learning from his mistakes.

When the virus first struck, he was too slow to go into lockdown, too slow to test and too slow to protect frontline medical staff.

This pattern was repeated when the second wave struck in the autumn.

Even when there was a clear case for another lockdown, he resisted until the last possible moment. This delay contributed to the further spread of the virus, putting more lives at risk and deepening the economic pain.

With depressing predictability, the Prime Minister is yet again behind the curve.

Ever since the new variant emerged it was obvious current measures were not adequate.

You would have thought Downing Street, the recipient of all the latest scientific advice and data, would have been the first to recognise the precariousness of the situation.

Yet Mr Johnson was still insisting as recently as yesterday morning that schools in England should remain open.

MISTAKE

We are now facing a third national lockdown, once again enforced too late.

The SAGE group of scientific advisers said on December 22 that tougher measures, including school closures, were needed.

It was obviously a mistake to relax the rules over Christmas, thereby turning family gatherings into super-spreader events.

Instead of ordering children back into class, they should have been putting preparations in place to help with home learning.

At every stage of the pandemic, Mr Johnson has shied away from difficult choices for fear of offending his backbenchers and cheerleaders in the right-wing press.

His deliberations and dithering would be inexcusable at the best of times.

They are unforgivable at this time of crisis. If there is a strategy, it appears to be to wait until the NHS is overwhelmed and the virus is out of control before acting.

The death toll is going to rise over the next 10 days because of Johnson and his government’s indecision and incompetence.