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  • Now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact

  • with others, and to stop all unnecessary travel.

  • We need people to start working from home

  • where they possibly can.

  • Coronavirus began as a health crisis

  • but it has rapidly morphed into a political and national one.

  • For Boris Johnson this could well

  • be the biggest test he will face as prime minister.

  • It's not that long ago that he won that stonking

  • 80-seat majority in December's general election,

  • where he promised to get Brexit done,

  • but also level up the country by tackling regional inequalities,

  • as well as reforming government, and the way things

  • are done in Westminster.

  • That has now all gone out of the window,

  • as everybody behind the doors of 10

  • Downing Street is entirely focused on how

  • to deal with this crisis.

  • Every decision Boris Johnson makes about coronavirus

  • is going to be a political one.

  • And every single one will be tested

  • as he is further scrutinised for the UK's approach to dealing

  • with this.

  • And if you ask, well, why are we doing this now?

  • Why now?

  • Why not earlier or later?

  • Why bring in this very draconian measure?

  • The answer is that we are asking people

  • to do something that is difficult and disruptive

  • of their lives.

  • And the right moment, as we've always said,

  • is to do it when it is most effective.

  • Boris Johnson has been under a lot of scrutiny

  • because the UK has taken a rather different approach

  • to other European countries such as Ireland, France, and Italy.

  • Whereas they, very early on, introduced dramatic social

  • distancing measures, the UK is still

  • relatively business as normal.

  • At the beginning of this week, schools were open,

  • restaurants were serving, and people were still

  • drinking in pubs.

  • We're expecting more social distancing measures

  • to come in, in the coming days.

  • We have been guided by the science,

  • and we will do the right thing at the right time.

  • Boris Johnson has relied on scientific experts

  • throughout this thing, being posed

  • with Boris and the boffins, as it's called,

  • with his chief medical officer on one side,

  • and the chief scientific officer on the other.

  • He's been relying on their advice,

  • and pushing out the more difficult questions to them.

  • But there's still been some missteps

  • from Downing Street in this.

  • The question of herd immunity has troubled Number 10.

  • It began by briefing to journalists

  • that this was what the UK was achieving, trying

  • to get as much of the population immune to coronavirus

  • as possible.

  • But as the disease spread more rapidly,

  • and there were fears the message was backfiring,

  • they've now had to U-turn on this policy,

  • with the health secretary saying at the weekend the focus is

  • on saving lives as much as possible.

  • We've done what can be done to contain this disease,

  • and this has brought us valuable time.

  • But it's now a global pandemic, and the number of cases

  • will rise sharply.

  • Indeed, the true number of cases is higher, perhaps much higher,

  • than the number of cases we have so far confirmed with tests.

  • Ultimately, this will be a political test

  • for Boris Johnson.

  • He's well known to the British public as a jovial sloganeer,

  • a campaigner through his time as mayor of London,

  • an MP, and prime minister who is able to inject

  • a sense of optimism.

  • But now he has to prove himself that he can govern

  • in the most testing crisis.

  • Nobody doubts the coronavirus will be the biggest test facing

  • British governments in modern political history,

  • and that is the same for Boris Johnson, too.

  • Over the next couple of weeks you're

  • going to see a lot more of the prime minister,

  • a lot more transparency for the government, as people

  • will see whether he can step up to this crisis.

  • So far, the reviews are he's done pretty well

  • in very testing circumstances.

  • But the circumstances are only going to become more testing,

  • and the questions and political decisions

  • facing Mr Johnson behind this door even more onerous.

Now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact

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