Boris Johnson is living on borrowed time. The Prime Minister may have survived Covid-19, but the British people will not forgive him for the way the disease has engulfed the nation.
In an exclusive Sunday Mirror poll today, 74 per cent of voters blame the Government for the highest death toll in Europe, and one in three of those cites the PM’s poor leadership.
When specific health advice is called for, he rambles. When a straight answer is needed, he blusters. We get confusion when clarity is most required.
Mr Johnson has shed some pounds since his illness and as PM he is now being exposed for the lightweight he is. A cheeky smile and a ready joke are no substitute for the competent leadership Britain needs at a time of peril like no other since the Second World War.
The grotesque chaos in our care homes has left at least 22,000 dead.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock must shoulder responsibility for the failure to test and the lack of PPE which caused that. When the care sector desperately needs money just to survive, it is not getting through.
Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick is responsible for that.
First Secretary Dominic Raab and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps are bargain-basement barrow boys, Home Secretary Priti Patel is merely second-rate and only Rishi Sunak has emerged with any sign of sure feet.
No wonder the Chancellor is being talked up as Boris Johnson’s replacement.
Because it is with the PM that the buck stops. We now know that he ordered lockdown too late, and unease is growing that he is lifting it too early. Only one in five of those questioned in our poll thinks it safe for children to return to school next month.
And it is telling that the UK is no longer united as the devolved administrations choose to move at different speeds. That shows how confidence in our leader is ebbing away.
We accept that dealing with a novel virus would test any government. We appreciate that Mr Johnson has probably not fully recovered from his own brush with death.
But when thousands of lives depend on his decisions, what we get is not good enough.
We endure minister after minister telling us at the daily No10 update how clever they are.
The British people are not stupid. It has not escaped their notice how much better other countries have fared. The least they deserve is the truth because if we are to beat this disease their willing cooperation is vital.
A reckoning is coming. A public inquiry will examine what went wrong and the public will not tolerate the wool being pulled over its eyes. Voters will want their say.
And they are likely to tell Mr Johnson that his time is up.
