Katy Balls Katy Balls

Boris Johnson warns of turbulence ahead

As Conservative party conference gets underway online, Boris Johnson used an appearance on the Andrew Marr show to warn of the difficult months ahead. With over ten million people currently under local lockdown restrictions, the Prime Minister said that while he is aware people are ‘furious’ with his government, things are not about to get better. Johnson said it was going to be a bumpy few months – which could extend well beyond Christmas: 

‘It’s possible that we will make significant progress on the vaccine this year. I went to see the scientists at AstraZeneca in Oxford and those teams and they seem to be doing fantastically well. But I don’t want to get people’s hopes up on the vaccine unnecessarily because I think there is a chance but it is not certain.’

In this current period, Johnson urged people to ‘behave fearlessly but with common sense’ – in what appeared to be a watered down version of the Chancellor’s message that people should live without fear.

Johnson also spoke of his own frustrations with the government response to the pandemic. While he said he was responsible for the general handling, he admitted that the test and trace programme is not functioning properly. He said that there was work to do on the scheme: 

‘Yes, it’s not perfect but it has made a huge difference to our ability to see where the virus is and where it is spreading, in which groups it is most prevalent and it is helping us a huge amount.’

With Johnson’s popularity also sliding among Tory backbenchers, he attempted to explain why his approach to the pandemic had surprised some of his long time supporters.

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