Covid-19: Little goodwill towards Boris Johnson after he cancels Christmas

Under fire from his own backbenches as well as the opposition for his abrupt decision to cancel Christmas in London and the southeast of England, Boris Johnson can draw some comfort from snap polls showing big majorities in favour of the action.

The polls from YouGov and Savanta ComRes show two out of three people in England believe he was right to introduce Tier 4 restrictions in response to a new, fast-spreading variant of coronavirus. Even in London, two out of three support the lockdown and only one in 10 say they will press ahead with Christmas plans that defy the new rules.

But that's the end of the good news for Johnson because both polls reveal a public that is highly critical of his handling of the crisis, with two out of three saying he has dealt badly with the issue of Christmas. Seven in 10 told Savanta ComRes that they share Keir Starmer's view that the government's original plan for a five-day easing of restrictions was too optimistic.

Rethink

When Starmer urged him during prime minister’s questions last Wednesday to rethink the Christmas easing in the light of rising infections, Johnson responded with a taunt.

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“I wish [he] had had the guts just to say what he really wants to do, which is to cancel the plans people have made and cancel Christmas. That is really, I think, what he is driving at,” he said.

“We do not want to criminalise people’s long-made plans.”

That is precisely what Johnson did on Saturday afternoon and, in his response to the action, Starmer identified it as part of a pattern throughout the pandemic of over-promising and under-delivering.

“We have a prime minister who is so scared of being unpopular that he is incapable of taking tough decisions until it is too late. Whether that was going into lockdown in the first place, extending the furlough scheme, bringing in a circuit break in October to protect the economy and now Christmas,” he said.

Outraged

Johnson's more serious problem is within his own party's ranks where dozens of backbenchers who have long been sceptical of lockdowns are outraged by his failure to consult parliament before taking such drastic action. Charles Walker, deputy chairman of the 1922 Committee, accused the government of holding back information about the new variant of coronavirus to avoid having to tell MPs they planned to "pull the plug on Christmas".

If Johnson has to recall MPs from their Christmas recess in the coming days to legislate for a trade deal with the European Union he may find little seasonal goodwill on his own backbenches.