It was an uncharacteristically subdued Boris Johnson who announced from Downing Street that Britain had surpassed the first, phenomenally ambitious target of giving 15 million people a coronavirus vaccine: this was a success, yes, but it was “no moment to relax”, the prime minister said on Monday.
The boosterish rhetoric has been restrained for several weeks – gone is the talk that led to claims there would be normality by November last year, or that it would be “inhuman” to cancel Christmas. Now, escape from the third lockdown must be “cautious but irreversible”.
‘Data not dates’: expert views on how to lift England’s Covid lockdown
Read more
Next Monday, when Johnson unveils his escape-from-lockdown plan, will be critical, however. Will the prime minister hold fast to this new lower-key approach? Or will he be tempted to offer some concessions to the siren voices on his right?
For now, rare political space has emerged for Downing Street. After the chaos of the Dominic Cummings era, senior Tory MPs talk of “a more mature tone” at No 10, encouraged they say by new advisers such as the chief of staff, Dan Rosenfield, and the press secretary, Allegra Stratton.
It has been helped by the clear success of the vaccination programme, which has taken the pressure off what had been a beleaguered Downing Street operation, riven by leaks and last-minute decision-making in 2020. And for the moment, a soft roadmap has already been set, through background briefings to MPs and the media.
“At the moment Conservative MPs and the country think they know what they are getting next week: schools to open on 8 March, non-essential retail in April and pubs and restaurants in May,” said one party adviser. “The party is largely onboard, but the problem is once you get detail, people will start finding things to complain about.”
Lockdown critics had been largely quiet in January and during the fierce cold of early to mid-February as hospitalisations and deaths soared, and the NHS was on its knees.
Свежие комментарии