Winston Churchill won the war and lost the peace when the British people kicked him out in 1945.
Could a fan boy Boris Johnson who lost the virus war go on to win the peace?
The clumsy stupidity of the European Union threw a lifeline to a Prime Minister betting on staying afloat on vaccines after his Conservative Government’s calamitous errors contributed to the deaths of more than 100,000 blameless victims.
Mistake after mistake resulting in the world’s worst mortality rate should be chiselled onto Johnson’s political tombstone yet he’s increasingly hopeful an incompetent reign will be rescued and extended by the successful NHS vaccine programme.
The near 600,000 new jabs announced emphasised how much the country finally has a world-beating response to be proud of after topping body count tables.
Much of the credit must go to the NHS, delivering the doses at breakneck speed and illustrating one of Johnson’s earlier lethal mistakes was to put profit-hungry companies in charge of test and disgrace.
But a discredited Government also deserves recognition for ordering vaccines when the faltering European Commission was still filling in forms.
Britain could’ve legally pursued its own inoculation programme while in European Union member, the jingo-istic bile of Brextremist vaccine nationalists deeply unpleasant with lives also endangered on other sides of the Channel.
Pandemics are defeated globally or not all.
The political battle in Britain is, as I’ve argued for weeks, whether Johnson’s able to shirk responsibility for tens of thousands of lives needlessly cut short by shamelessly presenting himself as the saviour of a nation he was drowning.
The 3-point Tory lead in a poll last night suggested a Conservative coronavirus comeback at the point of a needle.
Downing Street and Cabinet Ministers continue to appear clueless, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Trade Secretary Liz Truss contradicting each other over whether we’re likely to enjoy a relatively carefree summer.
European Commission madness was a gift for Johnson, highlighting the one thing he’s got right.
