"World" editorial. After several days of delay, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on the evening of Wednesday, March 18, a further tightening of measures to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. British schools, already largely deserted, will be closed from Friday afternoon and Londoners could be subjected in the coming days to a confinement comparable to that which several countries of the continent, including France and Germany, already impose .
The day before, Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had promised that he would do everything, "Whatever it costs" on a budgetary level, to help the country overcome the crisis that several British newspapers compare to " a war ". Rhetorics that resonate as an echo of the speeches of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The British government has come a long way. The idea of letting go of the pandemic in order to trigger a "Collective immunity" of the population acted as a strategy until scientists warned that such conduct could cost as little as 250,000 deaths.
Boris Johnson abandoned the risky bet on Monday and advised the British to "Stop all non-essential contact" and to practice teleworking as much as possible. The progression of the disease – 104 deaths counted Wednesday evening – and a volley of critics led Mr. Johnson to take a new step towards containment. "We lost time, deaths could have been avoided", thunders Richard Horton, editor of the prestigious medical journal The Lancet.
Brexit or not…
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will probably not have to carry out the threat he brandished on Tuesday evening to close the border with the United Kingdom if this country continues to diverge in its strategy of struggle against the Covid-19. London continues to benefit from EU rules during the "transition period" to Brexit which runs until 31 December and thus escapes the closure of the Union’s external borders decreed on Monday.
Whether Brexit or not, Europe, including the United Kingdom, must show cohesion, coordinate its action and adopt the most coherent strategy possible to fight against a virus that ignores borders. However, the cacophony, lack of leadership and "every man for himself" that have prevailed so far in the European Union have nothing to regret the British supporters of Brexit. Nor allow the mainlanders to lecture their island neighbors.
By asking each of the questions of life and death, the pandemic shakes up ideologies, upsets the political order and reschedules priorities: the ultra-liberal Johnson does not exclude the establishment of a universal income to deal with the economic ravages of the virus , and Brexit negotiations are adjourned sine die. The December 31 deadline itself now seems paltry. The Covid-19, by enhancing the scientific voice and shaking globalization, weakens two of the Prime Minister’s fundamentals: distrust of experts and the religion of planetary free trade.
Now is the time for solidarity and efficiency in a long drawn out battle, not for national selfishness and vain quarrels. Each country has to overcome the staggering pandemic at its own pace. But it’s united that Europe will win the war against the Covid-19. And for that, she needs the UK.
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