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Boris Johnson, the otherwise eloquent prime minister, struggled to be confident: It was “only” a fifth of the movement of goods with the mainland that was being held back by current traffic restrictions with France, he said Monday. “Most food, medicine and supplies” could arrive and leave the country as usual. He also had a “good conversation” with French President Emmanuel Macron and expected a solution, even “in the next few hours.”
But in reality, some things were even worse than Johnson said: Instead of, as he put it, not “just about 170 trucks” stopped in front of the Port of Dover on the M20, but up to 1500. The conversation is about everyone. drivers test for the virus before they are allowed to cross the English Channel.
Traffic jams, chaos, a messy Christmas – this is what the dramatic end of a year looks like, which had actually started out quite well for Johnson. In December 2019, with his promise to bring Brexit to the stage, he won a clear majority in parliament, including many seats in the north of England, in the strongholds of the Labor Party. But then the pandemic hit the country, and now, of all time, a new variant of the coronavirus, particularly contagious.
More than 40 countries have already temporarily suspended traffic with the UK. Now the UK will be cut off from the rest of Europe even before the Brexit transition period expires. Johnson is under pressure. The new crown variant has spread to all parts of the country, Patrick Vallance, the government’s scientific adviser, said Monday. He indicated that tough blockade measures such as London and south-east England will soon be required in other regions as well.
False promises disappoint many Britons
“We can look forward to a whole new world from Easter on,” the prime minister tried to reassure his compatriots. After all, half a million people have already been given the first of two doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
But do the British still believe him? Too often this year, Johnson had made fantastic promises and failed to deliver. In mid-March, when the pandemic was just beginning, he said: “We can change course in twelve weeks.” Even before Christmas, he held onto the illusion until the last minute, despite the growing numbers, that families could celebrate several days together in a “Christmas bubble.”
Polls show that many Britons are negative about the performance of Johnson’s cabinet. Polling firm Ipsos MORI found that 63 percent believed the government had mishandled Brexit. Most also rated management negatively on the crown crisis: Johnson had promised the “world’s best system” of testing and contact tracking.
Pressure even from within your own party
Dissatisfaction is growing even within the Conservative Party. Tough Brexiters, in particular, fear that Johnson could get into trouble on many fronts at the same time and, at the last minute, make too many compromises in negotiations with the EU.
Still, a deal with Brussels on a trade deal, however thin, could lighten the mood a bit. There is speculation in British newspapers that Parliament could meet next week to quickly vote on a deal on December 30; it would be the last moment to avoid a fatal no-deal scenario.
