Andy Richardson: 'Back to square one'
The eyes have narrowed, the smile has gone.
The man who wanted to be world king has had his dream come true – and found out it’s precisely what he didn’t want. Not that the public have sympathy for Boris. His poor handling of the pandemic is why we’re back to square one with the fourth worst case rate in the world.
Nightingale hospitals are on red alert, Liverpool is back on lockdown and others will follow, exams are delayed – get ready, Gav, only 10 months until exam day. It would seem universities and households are the places where cases are rising, so it’s no surprise that the Government has taken a sledgehammer to crack the pickled walnut that is hospitality.
As restaurateurs cry salty tiers, they’re being made the scapegoats – even though they’re arguably the safest sector. Flimsy, unrelatable reports from the US are bandied about as though they were written by God on tablets of stone – could God write? – when, in fact, there are as useless as a leaky sink in lunchtime service.
Andy Street, the West Midlands mayor, has distanced himself from the mess – and little wonder. He’ll be one of the ones carrying the can for Boris’s ineptitude when election time comes. There have been eight months of sacrifice, millions of jobs could be lost and still the Government has no discernible plan, other than to delay.
That there’s no proper test and trace support for workers is laughable – those on minimum wage can’t survive on 66 per cent, fact – and Boris is facing up to the fact that his moonshot hyperbole has shredded his reputation.
It’s not just the workers who are in revolt. So are the business owners. So are rank and file Conservatives. So are his own MPs. While it’s the worst post-War crisis, that doesn’t excuse incompetence, cronyism and ineptitude.
Rishi Sunak appears to be the man in charge – perhaps he’s replaced former Prime Minister, Dominic Cummings – as the Chancellor formerly described as a poodle becomes Boris’s master. The boot is on the other paw. Which is just as well, for Rishi Sunak appears to be the most competent member of a low-grade cabinet.
Unemployment is soaring, a man has developed Covid for a second time – raising questions about immunity and the success of a vaccine.
Donald is back on the campaign trail – and still isn’t wearing a mask. He’s to give everyone a big fat kiss – that’ll help, Donald.
