Editorial: Britain's on a single-minded journey but where to?

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's political rival has risen in opinion polls to levels not seen since the heady days of Tony Blair. AP Photo / Kirsty Wigglesworth

Editorial

Britons marked the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tower apartment block fire this week and may well have reflected on how much has gone wrong since.

A virtual church service was held to remember the 72 people who died in the west London blaze.

The service was held online because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed 41,783 in Britain, making the country the third worst in the world for deaths. Case numbers are nearing 300,000.

An inquiry into the Grenfell tragedy was stalled in March because of Covid-19. It is expected to restart in July, but no one is likely to face charges until next year.

This week some lockdown measures were eased in Britain, but the crises are mounting at Boris Johnson's Downing St door. The Prime Minister's responses to the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests are under fire, even as fears for the economy increase and his position in opinion polls slumps.

Labour's Keir Starmer has reached popularity levels unseen for an Opposition Leader since Tony Blair's day. He has done so with a combination of a calm, competent demeanour, and probing questioning of the Government.

It is a major turnaround since the Conservatives' landslide victory last year.

The Johnson Government's slow implementation of restrictions in the pandemic and conflicting messages have resulted in a growing reputation for incompetence.

Non-essential shops began reopening to queues of shoppers on Monday. But the World Health Organisation warns England's lockdown should not be lifted further until the official contact-tracing system proves to be "robust and effective".

There is ever more pressure to get shoppers spending after the economy shrank by a record 20.4 per cent in April. One economic forecast expects Britain's economy to contract by 8 per cent this year and the bad times could last until 2023.

Even with the current spate of disasters, the old problem of Brexit is still hanging around.

Johnson has until December 31 to reach a Brexit deal or extend the deadline. In a nightmare scenario, a no-deal Brexit crisis would be piled on top of a historic recession

It is as though the flames are still burning down the house.