The Johnson Case

I fear it is incurable. On Tuesday there’s a gloomy heading in The Guardian “No guarantee schools will reopen after Easter, government warns.” You can see Allegra Stratton, desperately trying to hold the line. “It’s tricky, it’s uncertain…make sure people know that.” But he just can’t help himself. A couple of days later, here he goes: ““The first sign of normality: schools could be open on 8 March, says Johnson.”

Well, they could. But they also could not, and none of us really knows, so to open up that glimmer of hope without foundation is just criminal, but he can’t help it. Whatever the facts of the situation, he has to exude optimism.

Yes, he can do serious, and contrite. Under massive pressure, and the evidence of the figures, he will insist that he’s really, really sorry, and he takes full responsibility…but no, he didn’t actually make a mistake. Yes he did, and in her usual clear, analytical fashion Devi Sridhar spells out five of them in a Guardian article (Five fatal errors that led to the UK’ 100,000 covid deaths, 28 Jan 21) . But that doesn’t fit with the optimistic bluster, so he simply can’t or won’t take it in. How on earth can things get better, while he stays in charge?