Are U-turns as humiliating as the media makes out?
Another week and not one but two U-turns for the government. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, revealed on Thursday that the coronavirus contact-tracing app would be abandoned in favour of model developed by tech giants, Google and Apple. The shift came because the government’s own model developed by the NHSX, the health service’s tech arm, was highly inaccurate on Apple phones.
Another unexpected U-turn came courtesy of Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford, who mounted a high profile campaign to get Boris Johnson extend the free school meals voucher scheme to the
most deprived children over the summer.
In Westminster, U-turns are met with breathless excitement and almost always described as “humiliating” – including by this journalist. But do such policy shifts actually harm the government? Polling by YouGov last month found 49 per cent of people thought U-turns were a good thing, as it showed the government was willing to listen to public opinion and change its stance when people complain or when situations change.
Only 23 per cent regarded U-turns as a sign of incompetence or weakness, while 38 per cent were either unsure or did not take a view. If handled well, policy shifts can win the government kudos from the public, with many people prepared to give ministers the benefit of the doubt at the start of the pandemic.
The sheer number of recent changes of heart feeds into a growing sense that the 80-strong majority the PM won at the polls is not as solid as it once seemed
Downing Street sought to regain control of the free school meals fiasco, with the prime minister calling Rashford to congratulate him personally for his campaign. Their efforts were aided by Rashford’s determination to avoid party politics and his happiness to work with the government to do the right thing. But repeated concessions also risk making it look like the government is out of touch or simply making mistakes.
Indeed, the sheer number of recent changes of heart feeds into a growing sense that the 80-strong majority the prime minister won at the polls in December is not as solid as it once seemed. Johnson still has to command the loyalty of his MPs to get things done – and every time a minister is sent out to defend a doomed policy on the airwaves or in parliament chips away at that support.
Loyalties are being tested in fire by the coronavirus pandemic and the Dominic Cummings affair – where Johnson’s chief aide allegedly breached lockdown rules – continues to simmer under the surface. Many Tory MPs are privately fuming over the fact Johnson decided to compromise his own credibility to keep Cummings, a move which saw the prime minister’s approval ratings plummet.
There are rumblings of discontent in Tory ranks over issues ranging from the social distancing rules and quarantine plans to future diplomatic relations with China, and party whips face an uphill battle to enforce discipline when MPs are less present in Westminster. So while some U-turns are less damaging that ploughing ahead with unpopular policies, ministers should be worried about how repeated reversals may hit public confidence in their handling of the pandemic.
After all, being forced into U-turns by Premier League footballers does not necessarily paint a picture of a government in control.