The political logic of the Prime Minister’s choice is solid enough. But we’re past the stage where his Sunday statement can simply be taken on trust.
He says that easing measures will be “modest, small, incremental and very carefully monitored.”
But overall the air goes out of the scores a little, with Hancock and Patel recording significant falls. Raab bucks the trend and regains the podium.
The Foreign Secretary declares: “We are absolutely working to defeat those trying to exploit the situation for their own nefarious ends.”
Four in five of our party member respondents say yes. Hunt is top choice to come in from outside – but there’s no strong support for any non-member.
The latter led the charge to build 300,000 homes a year – but the Health Secretary’s real achievement is to help create a new industry from scratch.
“We have recorded an additional 3,811 deaths in total… those additional deaths were spread over the period from the 2nd March to 28th April.”
Starmer asks why the virus is spreading so fast in the sector; Raab answers that there is “a greater challenge on a decentralised basis”.
The new Leader of the Opposition put Raab on the defensive, but has not yet discovered the transcendent virtue of brevity.
Until Ministers set out their thinking on answers, the future will be less clear than it might be. They should so this week.
Our reading of his statement is that he intends to sketch out a plan before the first May Bank Holiday rather than after it.
The Health Secretary’s defence of his department’s pro-lockdown stance has made him a target for those who want it eased.
“We won’t just have a binary easing-up of measures…we will need to make sure we can proceed in a sure-footed way.”
“We had a meeting and the Chancellor joined with many members of the top team…he’s raring to go.”
As with Brexit, much of the Tory family finds itself pitted against the permanent State on how Britain aligns itself in the world.