We need better leadership to beat the virus – not more of Boris Johnson’s false promises

Editorial: We shall have to wait and see whether four weeks will be enough to regain some kind of control over Covid-19

The PM announced a national lockdown on Saturday (AP)

It took barely 12 hours for the second lockdown to be extended. Yesterday morning, Michael Gove told broadcasters that the situation would be reviewed on 2 December, and when asked whether this meant the initial four-week lockdown might be extended, he gave a short, three-letter answer: “Yes.”

We do not wish to preempt that review, and No 10 has since insisted that the new measures will end on time, but it should be taken into account that when Boris Johnson announced the previous lockdown in March, he made it very clear it was only supposed to last for three weeks. It lasted 12.

Whether four miserable weeks will be sufficient for the health authorities to regain some kind of control over the virus, we shall have to wait and see. But in the meantime, Boris Johnson has another, almost as urgent task, and that is to regain some kind of control over his own reputation.