Poor communication over Covid-19 is a hard habit for the government to break – as Sajid Javid’s tweet shows

Editorial: Boris Johnson and his Downing Street team need to get a grip: the mixed messages and misspeaking have got to stop

Sajid Javid has apologised over the wording of one of his tweets (Reuters)

Another day, another display of poor communications from the government on coronavirus. After criticism from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, Sajid Javid deleted a tweet in which he urged people not to “cower from” the virus.

The health secretary apologised, admitting it was a “poor choice” of word, but his original remark was revealing. It betrayed the government’s tendency to forget about the estimated four million clinically extremely vulnerable people and the frontline workers who most certainly do not “cower”, but put their own health at risk by providing vital services.

The words not only showed Mr Javid’s libertarian instincts – he is an avowed admirer of the American philosopher Ayn Rand, who advocated individualism – but also his desire to parade them to lockdown sceptic Conservative MPs who, while not commanding a majority among the party’s backbenchers, certainly make the most noise.