Boris’s ‘Captain Hindsight’ attack backfires

Boris Johnson may be able to explain his U-turn on imposing a second national lockdown on England in policy terms, arguing as he did last night that he favoured trying to keep as many businesses operating as possible while taking other steps to drive down the rate of infection. But it is far harder to justify politically because of the way he conducted himself while resisting the idea of the lockdown.

The Prime Minister appears to have regarded the difference between his local approach and the ‘circuit-breaker’ favoured by Sir Keir Starmer as a campaigning opportunity. Not only did the Conservative party publish a now widely-mocked tweet criticising Labour for ‘wanting repeated national lockdowns’, but Johnson turned up to his Commons clashes with the Labour leader armed with pre-prepared lines attacking the Labour leader. They included the tag ‘Captain Hindsight’, and repeated complaints that Starmer wasn’t being wholly supportive of the government’s approach.