Sunday Blog: Another U-Turn

It is clear that the cost in political capital of Boris being unable to make timely decisions, is approaching the point when the prime minister will become politically insolvent. Up till the chaos of yesterday in Westminster, the Downing Street machine, a clunky misfiring relic of the smooth campaigning juggernaut which won the 2019 election, was insisting that the policy leaked and finally confirmed in a press briefing over two and a half hours late, was not an option as it would be a disaster for the economy.

I am not going to go once more into all the reasons why we have got here, nor to speculate where we may end up. In the present circumstances of the here and now, a mini-lockdown or circuit break or whatever this is, is the only option. But if all the boasting and promises of test and trace had come to fruition we would not be here. And until the ability to track trace and isolate is added to the ability to test, we will not get out of this. Yesterday Boris promised some new instant track and trace system, based on a new form of test giving quick results, which would be run by local health departments assisted by the army.

Let us hope this is not just another Boris dream that he and his government prove unable to deliver, in the right place and on time.