The cost of lockdown has been appalling, but the crisis is over. Now the prime minister can get back to his other demons
Boris Johnson’s use of apocalyptic demons to aid his survival in office knows no limit. Since his near-death experience of “partygate”, he has shamelessly exploited war, floods and pestilence. All have responded. Pestilence is now his greatest ally. The decision announced today to end all remaining pandemic restriction measures in England goes flatly against his more cautious advisers and appears highly political. That does not make it wrong.
The prime duty of government is to protect people from death and disease. After two years of Covid, the most basic measure of that protection is the “excess death rate” from all causes. In England this is now negative, that is, running below the seasonal norm, while Covid-related hospitalisations across the entire UK are falling fast. The crisis is over. Were Covid not in the air, mass testing for, say, infectious flu would seem an excessive precaution, given the government’s claims that it costs an astronomical £2bn a month. Whether this continues apparently remains a matter of argument.
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
