2020 would herald a ‘decade of prosperity and opportunity’ for the United Kingdom
These were the words of prime minister Boris Johnson on 31 December 2019, the same day that authorities in Wuhan, China reported a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown cause.
This year was supposed to be one of glory for Johnson and, as a result, the United Kingdom. Brexit would get done and all the wondrous spoils that Brexiteers promised would come would prove to be true. Britain would excel away from the vice grip of bureaucracy that is the European Union and forge a brave new path to future prosperity.
Three months later, more than 10,000 people in the UK have died as a result of coronavirus, with many cases in care homes not going towards the official count. NHS staff receive weekly claps from a grateful public, but remain dangerously low on the required personal protective equipment, and Johnson himself has just emerged from hospital, thanking the NHS for saving his life during a bout of COVID-19 which saw him admitted to intensive care.
This is the story of how 100 days of indecision and bluster brought a nation and its leader to the brink.
This was supposed to be a year of Brexit victories for Boris Johnson, now he’s recovering in hospital while the country is crippled by a pandemic.
This is the story of how three months of indecision and bluster brought this nation, and its leader, to the brink. pic.twitter.com/rHc4BLSUHc
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) April 12, 2020