With every press conference he gets worse

[Keepcalmanddoyourbit]

Totally out of his fucking depth

I'm not a fan of Boris but I really don't think any of the alternatives from the last election would be any better

I'm not a Boris fan nor did I vote for him but God I do not envy his job right now. It's the first time in my life I've actually sort of agreed with him.

I don't really understand what people want. As with all things politics, people will never ever ever be happy with what they do or say.

He is obviously being advised by others, these aren't his sole decisions.

It's all well and good saying 'he should do X Y or Z' but every decision during this time will have massive implications. They aren't easy to make by any means.

Oh I don't give a flying fuck what Corbyn would have done. What would Nelson Mandela have done? or Queen Elizabeth I? Totally irrelevant.

I would welcome any competent effective leader, of whatever party or of a coalition, who would take effective action to protect the people. Starting by making COVID-19 tests readily available.

The issue isn’t with him listening to his advisors it’s the way he is communicating the information or lack of it. Nobody expects him to have all the answers but I do expect a leader (of any political persuasion) to be able to speak confidently, articulately and be able to instil confidence in the people he’s speaking to. Boris does none of that, waffles on, fails to provide schools with a list of key workers over 24 hours from first announcing the measure and gives the impression from the way he stands and speaks that he couldn’t really give a shit. Whether that’s intentional is kind of irrelevant. That’s the message that’s coming from the way he presents himself.

I was intrigued by the trailing of the self administered test “like a pregnancy test”.
I don’t believe a word of it.

He’s not hiding, he’s answering question and reassuring where he can.
Another announcement will be made timing the chancellor regarding support for employees.
What other actions do people want/expect home to take?

he sounds as if he is desperately trying to get out of having to be there. If they go remote he will leave the city as quickly as he can before pulling down the shutters after him.

also his reference to pockets of problem areas in the city sounds dubious. Military shutdowns in poor areas only, anyone?

Johnson is an absolute lightweight compared to macron, Merkel and varadkar.

People were pushing for daily updates, he wasn't doing them before as there isn't always anything new to say, you can't have it both ways. I am not surprised he is getting worse each day, can you imagine the stress and the pressure of this situation? There is a huge team working on things behind the scenes, yes people want answers and reassurance that they are going to be able to weather the storm and that their businesses aren't going to go under; but it would be unfair of them to make all sorts of promises before the realities were ironed out. The amount of work that goes on for little decisions is impressive, let alone huge ones like this.

That was a really terrible press conference, no clarity, nothing new announced, not even a repetition of measures that people currently need to follow. Boris not striking right tone at all.

My family member in China reading this thread would say he should do what we have done in China, lockdown now, weld shut steel doors, use an iron fist and stop being so charitable about the british public.

Would that be a preferable option for those complaining about our government?

I'd rather have any other post war PM in charge than him.

I can imagine it would be far worse should Corbyn be up there right now

was intrigued by the trailing of the self administered test “like a pregnancy test”. I don’t believe a word of it

I am sure he will lose a lot of sleep over the fact that you don't believe him. Alternatively it is overwhelmingly the case that he is telling the truth, not because he is an honest man, but because he is accountable, and he will be pulled up on it if he is talking crap. Probably by one of the 2 beside him in the first instance.

@DamnYouAutoCarrot it's obviously not enough, seeing as people are still going out and Johnson knows perfectly well it's going to happen at some point.

He sounds as if he is desperately trying to get out of having to be there.

That's the one thing that makes me laugh, NettleTea. He kicked his way to the top because he wanted to ponce around going "Oooh look at me, I'm the prime minister". Then Covid-19 suddenly landed on him and he's trying to back away at 90mph.

I can imagine it would be far worse should Corbyn be up there right now

I can imagine it would be far better, so its pretty pointless not to concentrate on what we've got, isn't it?

For crying out loud. We're all out of our depth! At least he has the good sense to listen to the experts.

This is an unprecedented situation. There isn't a handbook for this. It isn't a Tory plot. It's crying shame that the other parties aren't showing some support.

@Borisdaspide I don't disagree with you, but it's unfair to say he's avoiding it or not being clear. He's saying behave or I'll lock us down. Quite simple from what I can see.

He came across as quite sincere to me

Look, he is winging it, as every single one if us are. He doesn't have some kind of book of knowledge that gives him all the knowledge in the world, including how to deal with situation.

He is doing his best and doing just fine. I feel extremely confident in Chris Whitty and Patrick Valance and it is those two, along with a wider team, that are advising Boris.

Quite simple from what I can see
Gawd only knows what you are seeing from those rose tinted glasses of yours

@Thinkingabout1t SPOT ON.

Well there should be a bloody handbook. Emergency preparedness is literally the most basic responsibility of a govt.

The man who wants all of the power and none of the responsibility.