PM’s dynamic vision must deliver results

EXACTLY 100 days ago, the Prime Minister placed Britain in the deep freeze.

To halt the pernicious spread of coronavirus, he imposed the most severe shutdown of life in peacetime.

Thanks to punctilious co-operation from the vast majority of the public, who willingly sacrificed elementary freedoms, lives were saved and the NHS protected.

But in a humbling mea culpa yesterday, Boris Johnson acknowledged his Government had made serious mistakes. The blunders trip off the tongue: the abject failure to safeguard care homes, a fatal lack of protective clothing for critical staff and the glacial implementation of test and trace. These are only the most glaring debacles.

Still, without ministers hanging up the ‘Closed’ sign, Covid-19’s death toll may have been considerably worse.

Of course, the deadly pandemic is still with us. But while keeping a wary eye out for new outbreaks, Downing Street has firmly turned its attention to the future.

Buffeted by the most serious public health catastrophe in living memory, Britain’s economy is plunging off a cliff.

The post-Covid outlook is truly terrifying. GDP has suffered its biggest slump for 40 years. Countless businesses, built up assiduously and tirelessly, lie in ruins. Unemployment, warns the Bank of england, threatens to hit one in ten workers – worse than the darkest days of the 1980s.

In a major speech, Mr Johnson sought to re-energise his premiership – and the country – by unveiling plans to accelerate the multibillion-pound infrastructure revolution.

Wrapping himself in the mantle of one of America’s most revered presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt, he promised a ‘New Deal’-style drive to avert a modern-day Great Depression. Yes, the bulk of the measures have been previously trailed. But the Mail welcomes Boris’s bold new path forward.

So where is the money for this Corbynesque splurge coming from and how will it be repaid? This paper has always believed we should pay our own way in the world, not load an unmanageable financial burden onto future generations.

Worryingly, the PM refuses to rule out tax rises – a drag anchor on wealth creation.

We applaud Mr Johnson for seeking to restore public confidence by demonstrating he has a dynamic plan to reset the nation after the pandemic shock. But while rhetoric is welcome, delivery is vital. If he fails, the UK will remain in deep freeze.