Boris Johnson’s mixed messages over Omicron put our health at risk as differences with Chris Whitty widen – Jayne Dowle

What if, following his 2pm ‘crunch’ Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister decided to speak to the nation at 5pm? Would I – should I? – be able to tear myself away from his latest press conference and set off on time?

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Or, worse dilemma, what if he held off until later in the evening? 8pm perhaps? I’d never forgive myself if I was admiring the lights – very good by the way – and missed Mr Johnson’s live announcement that Christmas was cancelled or could go ahead as we’ve all planned.

I’m measuring out my life by Downing Street press conferences and this makes me sound very sad indeed. The other Sunday, I was plunged into despair all afternoon when a news alert informed me that Mr Johnson was to speak that evening.

What fresh hell is this, I wondered, Sunday evening press conferences? It turned out to be nothing more onerous than five minutes of direct-to-camera insistence that we all take up our booster jabs.

Obviously, as a journalist, I need to be on top of the news agenda, but I’m also drawn by a morbid fascination, the kind that makes you look at a car crash even though every other instinct tells you to avert your eyes for your own peace of mind.

You might think that after the disastrous aftermath of the leaked press conference ‘rehearsal’ which saw former Downing Street communications chief Allegra Stratton fall on her sword that the Number 10 PR team might have swiftly sharpened up their collective act.

If anything, it’s getting worse. I can’t help but ask the biggest question of all: what is the point of it all if the communications strategy causes nothing but further alarm and acrimony?

As the Prime Minister faces huge challenges, he should be focussing all efforts on keeping the public onside. Instead, his forays to the podium present him as a shambolic figure who bows to “The Science” at the click of a slide.

He’s known for his admiration of the wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill, whose solemn radio broadcasts dictated the Second World War for the people of Britain. If only he could summon up an ounce of his gravitas.

Mr Johnson came to power two years ago thanks in no small part to the persuasive power of his public speaking. How could it all go so wrong?

I give you the press conference last Wednesday. I even re-timed my early evening dog walk to avoid missing a second. And what happened? Mr Johnson mumbled some vaguely reassuring words only to be roundly contradicted by Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, who issued a dire warning that people would be getting infected with the Omicron variant in “very, very, very large numbers” imminently.

In case we missed the point of those three ‘verys’, he went on to insist that the variant was spreading at “an absolutely phenomenal pace”. Quite astonishingly, the Prime Minister did nothing to question or contradict Professor Whitty, instead leaving his advisor’s words hanging in the air and viewers and listeners perplexed. What was going on here?

Leading up to this event, the general message from Downing Street was that people should take care, work from home if possible but not cancel arrangements. Now we had the PM and the most senior health professional in the land at odds – and in public. On one hand, the PM says “we’re not cancelling people’s parties”, on the other we’re told that the NHS is about to implode and thousands may die.

There is no logic to any of this, or any sense of sequential events. And so it continues. As it turned out, this Monday afternoon Cabinet meeting, trailed as the make or break moment for Christmas, failed to reach a firm conclusion and plunged us all further into limbo.

It was reported that at least 10 senior ministers remained firmly against imposing lockdown measures, and the Prime Minister is running scared of further incensing rebellious Tory MPs.

Speaking after more than two hours of wrangling, Mr Johnson said that he would wait until the data was clearer before taking further action. “But we will not exclude going further if we have to protect the public.”

Clear as mud then. As I write, families still anxious over potential curbs on household mixing and travel plans. Pub and restaurant owners still facing the catastrophic fall-out of mass cancellations. The entertainment and night-time industries desperately calling for clarity and financial support.

Sorry to be blunt Mr Johnson, but we deserve better over the Christmas period than the country trying to read between the lines while you, and your government, break those rules that you do set at will.

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