Keys to the exit
TWO self-inflicted problems have slammed the brakes on our rapid march back towards normality.
One is that seven-day isolation must be cut to five immediately.
The case for the full week is falling apart.
And though the NHS has weathered Omicron far better than the doom-mongers predicted, it will do so much easier if infected staff can return to work earlier.
The other issue is the slowdown in booster take-up.
Not long ago we jabbed a million a day.
It is down to 141,495 now, with 62 per cent of us having had that third dose . . . decent, but still too low.
Boris Johnson commendably held his nerve over Plan B while the panicky SNP and Welsh Labour imposed stricter curbs that made no difference.
Their latest case rates are higher than England’s.
But to finally unbolt the exit door he must cut crippling isolation rules, while millions more of us must get boosted.
As England’s deputy chief medic Jonathan Van-Tam says, the more who do so, the sooner we will be free.
Get your third shot.
This two-year nightmare could be over as soon as February.
Inaction man
BEYOND Covid, Boris risks becoming the “no can do” PM.
It would be a depressing turnaround for the man who got Brexit done, won an election landslide and led the world on vaccines.
But consider his central mission, “levelling up” those regions lagging behind London’s prosperity.
For all the talk, there is little action.
With an election perhaps just two years away, time is short.
Most voters still don’t know what “levelling up” even means.
To us, it’s high streets which are clean, crime-free and thriving.
Better roads. London-level public transport.
Enough well-paid jobs that young strivers don’t feel they have to move to the capital.
It IS all worthwhile. We know Boris agrees. Why can’t we get on with it?
Even immediate policies to alleviate the soaring cost of living, disproportionately affecting those same former Red Wall seats, are getting his knockback.
Scrapping VAT on energy is “a blunt instrument”, he complains.
So what, if it cuts bills?
Slashing green levies and facing down the howls of the eco lobby will help even more.
Is he prepared to do it?
We wish we could be more optimistic.
Enough negativity, PM.
You have a huge majority. Use it or you may lose it.
Ta-ta, sauce
WE will not weep salty tears at the demise of the ketchup sachet.
They’re pesky pieces of polluting plastic holding a paltry portion.
No match for a dollop from a bottle.
But we have to ask, with everything else going on . . .
Doesn’t the Government have bigger fish to fry?
