Saved by the bell, Boris Johnson’s government flip-flops off for the summer | Polly Toynbee

As the Commons enters recess, the PM has simply kicked huge issues – the ‘pingdemic’, ‘levelling up’ – down the road

On the last day of term in parliament, there’s a bad tradition of governments sneaking out a host of unwelcome reports and decisions they hope to hide amid the great Westminster summer escape. Not this time. Instead, in a week of fiasco for the government, all we can hear is the ear-splitting clatter of huge cans being kicked down the road. Recess comes with everything Boris Johnson should have done left undone. The prime minister’s fatal indecision is final.

Newspaper front pages shout about shelves left unfilled by pinged workers, while a million pinged children in England miss their last week of school, and many sectors fear being overwhelmed by pings. This week’s promised list of crucial workers to be exempt from Covid test-and-trace isolation finally emerged last night, covering a number of industries including emergency services, local government, food and medical supplies. As every sector howled for help, yet another hapless minister – Kwasi Kwarteng on Thursday’s BBC Breakfast – was sent over the top to say nothing at all: yes there would be a list, only “quite narrow”, but no, it wasn’t ready right now. Why on earth did it take so long?

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3ydGHs9