Cappuccino lovers beware. As ministers pressure Boris Johnson to consider tightening up the current lockdown, tougher messaging are emerging as the more likely option. Although Keir Starmer used the first Prime Minister’s Questions of 2021 to try and get on the front foot arguing that it was clear that tougher restrictions than the ones currently on offer were required — asking why, if the infection rate was higher than in March, the restrictions to tackle it were looser – Johnson responded by going on the attack. He replied that if Starmer had had his way the country would have been in a 12 month continuous lockdown.
Johnson said that he would not — and had not — ruled out tighter rules. But he pointed to data suggesting that the current measures were having some effect. This points to the different between Starmer and Johnson’s approach. While

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