The Boris Variant
As the Omicron variant looks to (possibly) defy progress on vaccines and Christmas controls possible, Johnson’s leadership flounders.
Why the South Africa variant?
Africa is the lowest vaccinated continent - not because of vaccine hesitancy but because of a lack of access to vaccines and vaccine tech. Omicron is a symptom of the inequities of the pandemic, of vaccine distribution; the worsening of this virus doesn’t need to be inevitable.
Peppa Pig
A week is a long time in politics, someone once said. Well this past week Johnson’s usual blundering charm has failed him. His speech at the CBI conference (a pressure group you need to know about) was one-part shambolic and one-part embarrassing.
A Britain Predicts poll shows that, if an election were to be held tomorrow, the most likely outcome would see the Tories with 295 seats and Labour with 265.
This would be an even worse outcome for the Conservatives than in 2017, when Mrs May saw her party win 318 seats against Labour's 262.
According to another poll, for the first time the Labour and Conservative Parties are neck and neck
Migration crisis
It’s not just a speech or covid that looks to undermine Johnson’s popularity. The migrant crisis that tragically led to 28 to drown in the English Channel this past week has also impacted on Tory poll fortunes. You would imagine that many would be disgusted by Priti Patel’s empty rhetoric and plans to make illegal migration ‘illegal’. But many, that voted for Brexit, call for stronger action.
The French, angry with the way the British government are acting (and reeling over what they see as US/UK ‘backstabbing’ over the Australian submarine deal), uninvited Priti Patel to a joint conference on the crisis after Johnson sent a letter that offended the French.
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