Good morning. One of the criticisms of Boris Johnson’s handling of coronavirus is that he has been poor at managing expectations. Temperamentally prone to over-optimism, he has constantly been playing down the extent to which lockdown measures will be required – only to find the Covid reality proving him wrong.
We may be getting a fresh example today.
This afternoon Johnson will be making a statement to MPs about the England-wide lockdown announced on Saturday and, according to the extracts released in advance, he will say that deaths would have been twice as bad as during the first wave without one. He will say:
Models of our scientists suggest that unless we act now, we could see deaths over the winter that are twice as bad or more compared with the first wave.
Faced with these latest figures, there is no alternative but to take further action at a national level.
But Johnson will also play down the prospect of the lockdown having to be extended. He will say:
At the end of four weeks, on Wednesday 2 December, we will seek to ease restrictions, going back into the tiered system on a local and regional basis according to the latest data and trends.
This line has made the Daily Express splash.
Monday's Express: "New lockdown will only last one month, PM vows" #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/mhm7XHcyxQ
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) November 1, 2020
