UK’s Covid recovery plan is in disarray as Boris Johnson does another U-turn on lockdown

Johnson, who has been pushing to get Britons back to work & school, had decided to ease some restrictions in northwest England. The policy has now been reversed.

File photo of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson | Krisztian Bocsi | Bloomberg

London: Boris Johnson’s government announced another U-turn on Wednesday, caving in to pressure from opponents and keeping local lockdown rules in place amid a rise in Covid-19 cases.

The prime minister is pushing to get Britons back to work and school, and his team had decided restrictions imposed in some areas of northwest England should be eased. But local politicians, including Greater Manchester’s mayor, Andy Burnham, condemned the plan and warned infections were rising again.

Five hours after Burnham intervened, Johnson’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the policy would be reversed.

“Following a significant change in the level of infection rates over the last few days, a decision has been taken that Bolton and Trafford will now remain under existing restrictions,” Hancock said Wednesday in an email. “This decision has been made in collaboration with local leaders after reviewing the latest data.”

With the U.K. economy in a deep recession, Johnson is determined to avoid another national lockdown and has promised instead to target local areas where Covid-19 infections flare up, allowing daily life to carry on elsewhere. The latest reversal is a blow to the credibility of Johnson’s strategy and will add to the impression that his government is not in control.

Bad timing

The timing could not be more awkward for the premier, whose administration has made a series of U-turns in recent months, under sustained pressure over mistakes it has made in handling the pandemic crisis.

As Hancock announced the decision, Johnson was on his feet in the House of Commons attempting to defend his record amid attacks from opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, who urged the prime minister to “get a grip.”

Labour accused ministers of trying to put the interests of local Conservative MPs ahead of public health, after influential Tory Graham Brady — who represents the Trafford district southwest of Manchester — called on the government to ease restrictions, despite local council leaders arguing it would be dangerous.

Johnson’s spokesman told reporters the government had reversed its decision because the number of infections, which had been falling, is again rising. There are 36.8 cases per 100,000 people in the borough, a level which would trigger quarantine measures for returning travelers if it was another country.

In recent weeks, the government has reversed policies on issues including school exam grading, the wearing of face coverings in shops and in schools, its contact-tracing program to contain the spread of the virus, and on allowing members of Parliament to vote in the Commons by proxy.

“They’ve lurched from crisis to crisis, U-turn to U-turn,” Starmer said. “That serial incompetence is holding Britain back.”

Johnson said the government had succeeded in “turning the tide of this pandemic” and that people are going back to school and returning to work. But he’s likely to face more criticism over the policy reversals in meetings with his Conservative Party colleagues later on Wednesday.- Bloomberg