A leap of faith: boris johnson breezes ahead, but this pandemic isn’t over | thearticle

So: July 19 it is, then. Britain’s VC Day (Victory over Covid) will go ahead regardless of the steeply rising graph of cases. The nation is being asked to take a calculated risk: that the

rate of vaccination, which yesterday hit 64 per cent, is sufficiently high to keep admissions to hospital at a manageable level. Daily mortality rates are in low double figures and, though

they may rise to 100 a day, are unlikely to go much higher than that. If they do, however, let nobody say they have not been warned: “We must reconcile ourselves, sadly,” the Prime Minister

said, “to more deaths.” Boris Johnson was in a brisk and breezy mood as he faced the press yesterday. He gave short shrift to hostile journalists, there were no follow-up questions and,

though he nodded to Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, one sensed that his deference to the boffins was a little perfunctory. The prime ministerial catchphrase this time was: “If not

now, then when?” He spoke to those in the country — mainly those of working age — impatient with endless restrictions and ready to take a leap of faith. Time and again he dismissed the rules

he had hitherto demanded we obey as “Government diktat”. The bonfire of restrictions must go ahead. Only on mask-wearing was he inclined to tread carefully: in crowded places, he might

still put one on. The polls suggest that the public isn’t ready to bin them yet. For those still anxious — mainly the retired — the Prime Minister had carefully chosen words of caution:

“This is not a moment to get demob happy.” To those tempted to do precisely that, such an anachronism won’t mean much. Even Boris (born 1964) is far too young to remember the war. He knows

that, once liberated, his target audience will dance till they drop if that’s what they want to do, regardless of what he may say. Such behaviour, we can only hope, has been factored into

the models that underlie the policy. Fortune favours the brave, it is said — except when it doesn’t. This pandemic has had more serpentine twists and turns even than Brexit, the only other

major crisis of which Boris Johnson has experience. The decision to open up the economy had become politically unavoidable, given the clamour for “freedom” within the Conservative camp. The

vaccine miracle is still the greatest achievement for which this Government can claim credit, but as more and more people are double-jabbed, the demand to be rewarded with a return to

normality also grows. For a PM whose instincts are libertarian anyway, the only answer to this is: if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. For what it is worth, I trust Boris to get this decision

right. Sir Keir Starmer’s critique — mainly an incoherent demand for “more data” — was less than unconvincing. But my guess is no better than yours, or anyone else’s. We are dealing, not

only with known quantities but also with what the late (and unfairly maligned) Donald Rumsfeld called “unknown unknowns”. There will never be enough “data” until it is far too late to be

useful.  The Prime Minister implicitly acknowledged this yesterday when he conceded: “This pandemic is far from over.” No, indeed it is not. And the point about a pandemic is that, because

it is a medical phenomenon, it is not susceptible to slogans such as “Take back control” or “Get Brexit done”. And for all the talk about the public taking personal responsibility for

“living with Covid”, the experience of the last 18 months has taught us that there must be a large element of collective responsibility too. Living through the pandemic has not been about

“I” or “me” but about “We” and “us”. And so, as we emerge from this long, dark tunnel, the need to look after the old, the weak and the vulnerable will continue. Leadership does not mean

forcing the pace; it means leaving nobody behind. On the contrary: it is not the socially distanced but the “demob happy” who are likely to be the potential incubators for the next variant.

Boris Johnson will only earn respect from the country if he ignores voices in his party who would like to treat those with private fears as if they were public enemies. We want no more

reports of a Prime Minister who tells his colleagues: “Let the bodies pile high in their thousands.” A MESSAGE FROM THEARTICLE _We are the only publication that’s committed to covering every

angle. We have an important contribution to make, one that’s needed now more than ever, and we need your help to continue publishing throughout the pandemic. So please, make a donation._