The Guardian view on governing after lockdown: Boris Johnson's grip is weak | Editorial

It is hard for the public to trust a government that prioritises political messaging ahead of delivery

There is no such thing as a total truce in Westminster, and a partial one rarely lasts long. The period when Labour felt obliged by a sense of duty in a national emergency to provide constructive" opposition to the government is over. In parliament on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer accused Boris Johnson of failing to get to grips with the situation and the prime minister responded with affected resentment at the lack of cooperation" from his counterpart across the dispatch box.

But it was Mr Johnson's decision to support Dominic Cummings over alleged lockdown breaches that incinerated any prospect of political consensus on coronavirus policy. By failing to chastise his maverick aide, the Tory leader committed two grave mistakes. First, he effectively diluted the mandatory element of the regulations, creating an unwritten Cummings clause" for anyone minded to interpret the rules leniently for themselves. Second, he politicised the whole lockdown issue by making it clear that science and evidence are subordinate to the whim of a single Downing Street adviser.