United Kingdom: in search of oxygen and before a fall in popularity, Boris Johnson reshaped his government

The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, reshaped his government on Wednesday to form a “united team” that faces outstanding challenges after a year and a half of pandemic and, in the midst of a decline in popularity, he replaced the Minister of Foreign Affairs and other officials.

After 18 months of a very painful health crisis for the United Kingdom, and after a much criticized departure from Afghanistan, at a time when Brexit is making it difficult for products to arrive in the country’s supermarkets, the leader of the Conservative government needs an oxygen tank.

Among the replacements is the head of diplomacy, Dominic Raab, whose post will be held by the until now Minister of International Trade, Liz Truss, 46, charged since Brexit with negotiating the new free trade agreements promised by Johnson.

Raab, a 47-year-old liberal, has been widely criticized for his inaction in the afghan crisis, vacationing in Crete as Kabul fell to the Taliban in mid-August. He then appeared to blame the military for some of the mistakes made during the evacuations.

However, he does not leave the executive but is appointed Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister.

Interior, Finance and Defense unchanged

The Minister of Education, Gavin Williamson, was the first to know of his widely anticipated departure from the executive due to his handling of school closures during the pandemic and the testing fiasco that followed. Shortly after followed by Minister of Justice, Robert Buckland.

Although it appears to be on the verge of failure to reduce the arrivals of cross-Channel irregular migrants, Interior Minister Priti Patel retained her portfolio.

The title too Finance, Rishi Sunak, and Defense, Ben Wallace.

For his part, Michael Gove, a close friend of the Prime Minister, currently in charge of coordinating government action, has been appointed. Minister of Housing and Local Government, charged with keeping the great electoral promise of reducing the enormous disparities between wealthy London and the rest of the country.

This the remodeling seeks to “create a strong and united team to better rebuild after the pandemic”a Downing Street source told reporters.

“Yesterday the Prime Minister presented his plan to deal with COVID-19 during the fall and winter. But the The government must also redouble its efforts to meet citizens’ priorities», He underlined.

Lower polls

The announcement comes in a delicate moment for Johnson, 57, who won by force in the legislative elections of December 2019 with the promise of carry out Brexit, voted by referendum in 2016 but postponed several times since then.

A recent survey by the YouGov institute shows a fall in popularity of the Conservatives (to 33%), overtaken for the first time by the Labor Party (35%) since the beginning of the year.

Executive Above all, he pays for his decision to increase social contributions to save the public health system, affected by the covid-19 pandemic, and reform the dependency sector.

This put the tax levels at their highest level since World War II, breaking Johnson’s campaign promise not to raise taxes.

In the plane health, the British government is facing a difficult situation, after lifting most restrictions on COVID-19 in July despite the delta variant of the coronavirus, which brought the number of new infections at very high levels, over 30,000 per day.

The return to school and the arrival of autumn, with its seasonal viruses such as the flu, raise fears of a difficult situation in hospitals in one of the European countries most affected by the pandemic, with more than 134,000 deaths.

The executive’s plans announced Tuesday to prepare for this winter are based almost exclusively on a COVID-19 vaccination booster campaign. And try at all costs to avoid further confinements.

(Germain Moyon – AFP)

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