The Observer view: as Britain flounders, Europe charts its recovery | Observer editorial

Boris Johnson's bungled handling of the crisis spells financial disaster for the UK

If the struggle against the pandemic resembles a war, as Boris Johnson believes, then it's pretty clear who is losing. By any pertinent measure, including the most damning one - the number of excess deaths compared with last year - Britain is being outdone by countries across Europe, most notably Germany. Johnson dislikes international comparisons. It's shamefully obvious why. Britain is not second rate. He is.

Late into lockdown, late on PPE, late on testing, test and trace, late on halting the avoidable care homes catastrophe and late on the reopening of schools, Johnson's government now lags behind in launching an economic stimulus package to mitigate the potentially disastrous long-term effects of the virus. Last week's report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development shows just how urgent the need is.