Coronavirus: The tide was not turned - now what?
- Published
Nearly 10 million people's lives are under limits again.
The number of coronavirus cases is rising fast.
Concerned members of the public are stuck in frustrated queues for coronavirus tests in some parts of the country.
The tide was not turned. Life is not back to normal.
And even some Conservative MPs are asking, what on earth is going on?
There is a realisation at the top of the government that mistakes were made at the start of the pandemic.
Back then though, even with the prime minister on his sick bed, the political and public confidence in the government was high, and opinion polls - that elusive currency - suggested trust appeared to have made a comeback.
'Predictable problems'
But as the leaves turn, and the country seems on the first rung of a second surge, the political season has shifted too.
One senior former minister fumed that Number 10 keeps "crashing into predictable problems," storing up discontent over the exams algorithm, or the squeeze on testing.
Another Conservative grandee said that people are simply "fed up" of life with Covid-19 and ministers' ever changing advice - calling instead for the government to pursue a clearer path based on common sense.
There is a burgeoning sense around Westminster, as the patchwork of local restrictions builds, that a nationwide tightening, even if temporary, may not be that far off, despite the prime minister's protestations that he will do everything to avoid it happening.
But whatever happens, Boris Johnson simply cannot be sure that the public, or indeed his own party, would be willing to acquiesce next time.
Frustrated with No 10
Downing Street has tried to streamline government and the way the pandemic is being handled to take a firmer grip - one senior figure told me problems are now meant to be solved "in the room".
Yet many Conservative MPs, advisers, and some ministers, are frustrated with what they see as aggression from a tiny group that makes the decisions in Number 10.
Ruthless and effective is one thing.
Brutal and incompetent quite another.
With concerns about testing, the number of cases, schools, and the economy, it is far from clear right now which phrase best describes what is going on.
These are, however, times that no one expected.
One minister told me: "Covid has changed the rules of politics, because no one can be sure of the right thing to do."