Boris Johnson promised the public that he was going to make sure supply chains “get through to Christmas and beyond” this year – a vow which felt very familiar to many of his critics.
The prime minister famously pledged to save Christmas last year by relaxing Covid rules for five days, only to scupper the country’s plans just before December 25 due to a spike in Covid infections.
Downing Street made a sudden U-turn on December 19, and Johnson told the public: “It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you we cannot proceed with Christmas as planned.”
London and much of south-east England was put into tier four, meaning people could only mix with their own households and support bubbles, and no-one could travel.
Other parts of England were put in tiers one to three and asked to stay local. Only three households could come together for Christmas.
In Wales, only two households could unite for Christmas Day while in Scotland it was three households up to a maximum of eight people.
Johnson’s last minute U-turn did not impress many, considering Covid infections had been rising steadily for weeks.
It’s safe to say it was not the Christmas most people had in mind – and judging from the response on Twitter, few are looking for a repeat performance from the prime minister this year.
People were quick to compare the newspaper front pages of this year to those from November last year, when the public were told “Boris battles experts to save Christmas”.
Journalist and author Sathnam Sanghera tweeted: ”Boris battling to save Xmas seems to start earlier every year.”
Another Twitter critic joked: “Boris battles to save Christmas 2.....the sequel no one wanted. But a large chunk of the electorate would probably vote for.”
