MORNING SERIAL
IN previous PMQs when he had floundered Boris Johnson had been able to quickly reel off a slogan or a generic phrase and rely on the noise generated from his back benchers to make it seem like he just scored a point; in the quiet he seemed to wilt. This was a running theme in their early exchanges and was a key reason the Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg was keen to get the chamber full again.
It wasn’t just in Westminster where Boris Johnson was having issues. With the next lockdown period drawing to an end after the weekend there were increasing rumours that the UK Government could end the motto of the lockdown so far – ‘Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives’. This was a cause of deep concern for Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford with Wales’ First Minister being a long-time vocal backer of the ‘four nations approach’. However following these rumours, and seemingly little consultation from Westminster, cracks started to show.
Ms Sturgeon said she would not “be pressured into lifting measures prematurely” and that dropping the “clear, well understood” stay at home message could be a “potentially catastrophic mistake”.
She added that the evidence in Scotland made her believe that: “the lockdown must be extended at this stage. The decisions we take now are a matter of life and death and that is why they weigh so heavily.”
What is interesting about the remarks about evidence is that, though Scotland has its own chief medical officer, both administrations were drawing from the same evidence pool from SAGE – they were just reaching different conclusions from the science (or one/both of them simply was not following it).
Drakeford also called for more communication from the UK Government rolling out his favourite phrase “a regular, reliable rhythm” for the first of very, very many times, also adding that working with Downing Street was a “bit of a fits and starts experience”.
> Lockdown Wales by Will Hayward £9.99 www.serenbooks.com/productdisplay/lockdown-wales ISBN 9781781726013