October 19, 2020
You’re reading The Waugh Zone, our daily politics briefing. Sign up now to get it by email in the evening.
Will The Welsh Firebreak Persuade Boris Johnson To Unite The Disunited Kingdom?
It wasn’t on his lectern, but the mantra is back. ‘Stay at home, Save lives, Protect the NHS’ was the message from Wales’ first minister Mark Drakeford today and it was a depressing reminder of just how serious the Covid second wave has now become.
Calling his tough new two weeks of restrictions a “firebreak” was savvy comms on Drakeford’s part. The public will get the urgency and danger of that phrase a lot easier than “circuit break”, which somehow became the buzzword in Whitehall in the past few weeks.
The “sharp and deep” lockdown, which starts on Friday at 6pm, will be brought in to coincide with the school half-term. As Boris Johnson gambles on his own regional tiers approach, Wales will in many ways now be the lab experiment that Keir Starmer needs to make his own case for similar measures in England: Labour-led government (albeit in coalition with the Lib Dems) taking decisive action to save lives.
Drakeford stressed that he was following scientists’ advice (a report from the Welsh Government’s Tactical Advisory Group or TAG said it would “massively reduce” Covid-19 transmission in Wales and prevent a thousand deaths), itself a sharp contrast to Johnson’s own preference for giving more weight to economists’ advice.
There’s no question that the Welsh measures are strict: everyone advised to stay at home unless they do essential work, all pubs and non-essential shops to be closed, all tourism cancelled, no bonfire night or Halloween gatherings. The only major difference from the national lockdown in March was childcare for under-5s will stay open, though most secondary school pupils will be off for a fortnight and primaries for one week.
What was perhaps most fascinating about Drakeford’s press conference was his insistence that this would not transmute into an indefinite lockdown. “It WILL end on November 9,” he said. Crucially, he said the effects of the new firebreak would not be known until weeks after it ended (ie late November), but he was prepared for the evidence to prove him right.
Scotland has already started its own three-week shock treatment. Although not as stringent as a firebreak or circuit break (shall we call it a “windbreak”?), it is aimed at providing a similar short pause in the spread of the virus to help the local NHS prepare better for winter. But on the question of whether some features would continue after the period ends, Nicola Sturgeon conceded today at her own press conference that key curbs would.
“It is not realistic to expect that we will go back to normality - for example, the household restrictions will continue to be in place I think for the foreseeable future, and it may be that we need to have some further restrictions over and above that,” she said. “Foreseeable future” could be just weeks but it could be months.
With Northern Ireland operating its own, milder but longer four-week “circuit break” (pubs and restaurants closed, two households to a total of 10 people allowed to mix), England certainly looks the odd-one-out in the UK’s Covid responses. Should cases plateau or fall faster in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland (and we will know by late November), the pressure on the PM to follow suit will be strong. Except he’ll have missed the half-term school break and would probably have to wait until just before Christmas to avoid greater disruption.
If, as expected, Greater Manchester joins Liverpool region and Lancashire in the “Very High” risk category in coming days, the government’s own short, sharp shock will look like it’s creeping across the country by stealth. Matt Hancock today said talks on the move to the highest tier were ongoing with south Yorkshire, west Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, the north-east and Teesside. If all enter Tier 3, that’s a huge chunk of the UK’s population in a kind of firebreak. Especially when Chris Whitty made plain Tier 3 won’t be enough.
Of course, the question has always been just what should governments do during the firebreak? Drakeford said today he would use the two weeks “purposefully” to get more staff hired for Wales’ local test-and-trace service (which already has better contact rates than England’s) and to build more field hospitals. It felt like he was announcing a ceasefire in a war with the invisible enemy, to give his troops time to resupply with more infantry, more weapons and more medicines.
In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland it may well be that the new measures will help each nation “come together”, in Drakeford’s words. Unity of purpose and clarity of public health messaging are the key assets of a firebreak. The PM’s own English solution - a paradoxically centralised regionalism - often looks more like “divide and rule” than devolution.
Andy Burnham’s resistance movement could be overpowered by No.10 in coming days. But his main political argument could still cause Johnson a problem over the longer term. When London’s cases were rising rapidly in March and the north’s weren’t, the north didn’t say ‘keep us out of it, our rates are lower, our economy is more vulnerable, our jobs more precarious’. Instead it said: ‘we’re all in this together’. Now that the north is suffering, why isn’t the south saying the same?Related... Coronavirus Vaccine 'Unlikely' Before Spring 2021, Says Patrick Vallance Feel The Burnham? What People In Manchester Think Of Row Over 'Shambolic' Lockdown How Your Google Search Data Is Used To Track Coronavirus
Related Stories
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Millie Bobby Brown & Jake Bongiovi Celebrate “Three Years of Bliss” Ahead of Wedding
March 24, 2024
C4Ehegcq1-A
Kate Middleton & Prince William "Enormously Touched" by Public Support
March 24, 2024
s8fig-RCjFc
Gisele Bündchen Denies Cheating on Ex-Husband Tom Brady
March 23, 2024
_SpRMagA8BM
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
'Everybody Was S----ing Their Pants': Nick Thune Jokes About Being Born in the '70s and Fatherhood
March 16, 2024
mm7Baf6o2d8
Gunna Says Tour Will Up Creativity in Rap, Endorses Flo Milli | TMZ
March 22, 2024
QfMU24fw-Qo
Reporter Taylor Lorenz Says Palace Botched Kate Cancer News Rollout | TMZ Live
March 22, 2024
o43ZucdiyEo
Riley Strain's Body Found After Going Missing in Nashville 2 Weeks Ago | TMZ NOW
March 22, 2024
1m1zM-4_Cs8
Kyle Richards hasn’t spoken to co-star Dorit Kemsley, denies sending her a ‘manipulative’ text
March 24, 2024
LqLZzDP1hm4
Jordan Emanuel on her connection to 'RHOSLC' star Meredith Marks, advice from Amanda Batula
March 24, 2024
5NPAwlOov1Y
Kate Middleton’s uncle Gary apologizes after slamming ‘fickle’ Meghan Markle in scathing interview
March 24, 2024
JWG9kitALZk
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
20
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
SK Brann W - Barcelona W
20
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Hacken W - PSG W
19
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
SL Benfica W - Lyon W
19
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Ajax W - Chelsea W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Brighton - Manchester City
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
11
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Chelsea - Newcastle United
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Liverpool - Manchester City
10
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Real Madrid - Celta Vigo
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Aston Villa - Tottenham Hotspur
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Atalanta
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Fiorentina - Roma
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
AC Milan - Empoli
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.