Boris Johnson can’t afford to squander the goodwill built up over his approach to lockdown easing

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy There’s an old joke among politicians in which, to bring some light relief from a media obsessed with why they got it wrong, one party colleague asks another: “Why did we get it right?” When we look back at the coronavirus crisis, today might be one of those moments on which most people agree that Boris Johnson did get it right by easing the lockdown slowly and cautiously. His new Downing Street team in the post-Dominic Cummings era has reined in Johnson’s characteristic over-optimism, which led to him to declare last March that the country “can turn the tide in 12 weeks”, later promise “a more significant return to normality from November” and then that some aspects of life would be “back to normal by Christmas” before diluting his Christmas relaxation at the last minute. This has taken some of the wind out of the sails of the “economy first” brigade on the Tory backbenches, who smell a rat in one of the roadmap’s four tests for unwinding the curbs – that infection rates “do not risk putting unsustainable pressure on the NHS.” These Tories suspect the test will allow scientific advisers to keep Johnson’s foot on the brake when he could afford to accelerate. Another reason why some Tory MPs will not go to the wire is that, despite growing evidence of lockdown fatigue, opinion polls show the public supports the cautious strategy Johnson has finally adopted; almost two in three people prioritise reducing infection rates even if that means keeping curbs in place longer.