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Hit by a global pandemic, an emerging economic crisis and a series of political mistakes, the prime minister began the new term recognizing that he and his government had spent the last few months “sailing in the teeth of a gale.”
Assembling his cabinet when the MPs returned to Westminster, Boris johnson He admitted that he hadn’t always charted the right course after a summer of U-turns.
He said: “I am not a great expert in nautical but sometimes it is necessary to veer here and there in response to the events as they change, in response to the change of wind but we have been steadily going in the direction, in the course that we set .and we have not deviated from that course. “
The prime minister held a socially estranged cabinet meeting when MPs returned to Westminster after the summer recess.
But from a health crisis in the summer to an economic crisis this fall, the prime minister knows that he is still in the eye of the storm and that there will be turbulence ahead.
The big test for fall is how your government is sailing through those headwinds, with a more restless parliamentary party following a series of own goals and U-turns, most notably the A-level debacle in August, and an audience that perhaps he is less willing to do so. Give the prime minister the benefit of the doubt as he was during the first storms of this pandemic.
A recent YouGov poll suggested that Johnson’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since October 2019.
The misdirection of the number 10 is making some MPs nervous.
“They need to master themselves,” said a senior Conservative MP.
“The series of U-turns leaves much to be desired and now we are not just talking on WhatsApp, but we are back in the tea rooms.
“We have to get our socks up, we can’t get away with it much longer.”
From the health emergency in March to the current economic emergency, the most pressing problem for the government is getting children back to school and adults getting back to work.
Navigating an economy reopening while managing the disease will be the critical test of the fall and the overall goal of the Johnson administration is to avoid another national lockdown.
“There is no choice between health and the economy. We have to apply the correct health policy and maintain control of the virus, that is what the economy needs,” said a government official.
“Another national blockade will have a greater impact on the economy than any measure the government can take.”
Boris Johnson is trying to get students back to school after months out of the classroom
The COVID-19 spending boom of the past six months has already blown a hole in public finances, with debt rising to levels not seen since the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century.
With government debt topping £ 2 trillion for the first time, the Chancellor has made it clear that extraordinary support for the economy has to be for a limited time.
Rishi Sunak has ruled out expanding the job retention plan, which will end on October 31.
Rishi Sunak’s spending during the pandemic caused debt to rise to levels not seen since the 19th century.
The Treasury has established the crown retention scheme of £ 9bn, a £ 1,000 bond paid to companies to bring back unlicensed employees until the end of January, and a £ 2bn start-up scheme for Have the youngsters try to slightly smooth the edge of the cliff when the license plan is finalized.
But the chancellor is bracing for a wave of job losses and one of the “most severe recessions this country has ever seen.”
Against that backdrop, Johnon has few options but to move forward with reopening our schools and our workplaces in the hopes that people will return to work and help get the economy running again while local and national governments control the virus. .
Government figures admit that it will be difficult and that this is a dangerously difficult path to follow.
The hope is that a combination of a more effective test and trace system, coupled with local lockdowns, will mean much more targeted management of the virus than the dramatic nationwide measures required in March.
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Ministers and officials are preparing for a second wave of the virus, but instead of waiting for a single giant spike, they are trying to contain the ripples and smaller waves to avoid a single giant wave.
In November and December, it will be increasingly difficult, with the virus more difficult to suppress and the NHS entering its annual winter crisis period.
In the “teeth of a gale” in recent months, the next term will also be a test for the prime minister and his team. Those calmer seas that you spoke about today in the cabinet seem very far away.
