Sir Keir Starmer has called on Boris Johnson to hold an emergency Cobra meeting, arguing that the current plans to ease coronavirus restrictions over Christmas should be reviewed. The Labour leader said this afternoon that his party would support the government if it decides that tougher measures are needed. He stops short of calling for the Christmas easing to be cancelled, presumably because he’d rather not be the political grinch in this case. But he is still pushing Johnson.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Starmer argues that the current tier system has not been working and that the government cannot ignore the rising cases. He writes:
It has become increasingly clear over recent days that the tier system you introduced two weeks ago has failed to control transmission of Covid-19. Sadly, it does now appear that the Government has — once again — lost control of infections, putting our economy and our NHS at grave risk in the New Year.I understand that people want to spend time with their families after this awful year, but the situation has clearly taken a turn for the worse since the decision about Christmas was taken. It serves no-one for politicians to ignore this fact.
Ministers probably wish they could ignore this intervention given they are having to work out what the public will actually stomach and what Tory MPs will accept short of open revolt — all while balancing that against the possibility of a dreadful third wave crisis in the new year.
Currently, their strategy is to tell people that they don’t want them to make use of the freedoms on offer. This may currently be the only thing that seems politically feasible just a few days out from the easing of restrictions. But it will still be very difficult for ministers to blame public behaviour in the new year if they end up having to go for a third national lockdown.
Comments