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Boris Johnson, weak leadership is seriously harming the UK


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Boris Johnson, weak leadership is seriously harming the UK

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Boris Johnson and UK are facing two hellish weeks.

Boris Johnson might not be fully aware of it, but the next two weeks could contain two of the most significant moments in his premiership.

As Brits wind down for the Christmas break and look forward to the end of a horrendous year, the country will live in real time the consequences of policy decisions Johnson have taken in the face of the two greatest post-war crises the UK has faced: coronavirus and Brexit.

Both issues are politically hellish for Johnson. On Covid, his own Conservative party has vocally opposed his government's approach for being too restrictive. This forced the Prime Minister to relax rules over the Christmas period, allowing families to meet for five days, despite the fact the UK appears to be heading towards a third spike.

On Brexit, hardline Euroskeptics have cranked the pressure up on Johnson not to sell them out at the last minute. This has forced the PM to create the impression that he is willing to take talks with the European Union right down to the wire, a strategy that means no one has a clue what happens at the end of the transition period on December 31.

Critics have accused Johnson of abdicating leadership and adopting vague positions on both in order to keep his party in line. And while this might seem a politically sensible bit of party management, the stakes are unbelievably high. Historians in years to come may view this period as the nadir of his leadership, depths from which he may struggle to recover.

Christmas plans in the balance
Earlier this week, Johnson found himself under fire after two bizarre performances in which he delivered confusing advice as to what people should do over the Christmas break. First, he accused Keir Starmer, who leads the opposition Labour Party of wanting to "cancel Christmas" unlike Johnson, who previously permitted three households to gather for a five-day period.

However, at a press conference later that day, he added a major caveat. Flanked by his scientific advisers, he said it was vital "everyone exercises the greatest possible personal responsibility," advising that his rule of three households and five days "are maximums, not targets to aim for." In his particularly Grinchy closing remarks, Johnson wished the nation a "merry little Christmas, and I'm afraid this year I do mean little."

Reasonable people could be forgiven for feeling angry that, having being promised some brief joy at the end of a dreadful year, they were now being asked to make their own risk assessments, rather than being told what to do by the government.

And the danger is real. "Christmas has all the ingredients for super-spreading," says Christina Pagel, director of the Clinical Operational Research Unit at University College London.

"Add to that the fact that schools are open and the virus is in schools. The only way it would be safe for kids to see grandparents would be if they and their families had at least 10 days to isolate (and preferably 14), which obviously there isn't the time to do now," she adds.

However, there are four years left for the consequences of his actions, inactions and poor party management to catch up with him before the next scheduled general election.

And if both Christmas and Brexit are catastrophic disasters, there is a good chance his party might decide Johnson isn't the man they want to fight that vote in 2024.

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