Header Ads

Defying gravity no longer

Balance of Power
Bloomberg

For an old Etonian who studied classics at Oxford, Boris Johnson has shown a remarkable ability to connect with everyday people. But the prime minister is in danger of losing his common touch.

Johnson's decision to throw his weight behind Dominic Cummings, despite his chief adviser apparently breaking lockdown rules, has caused an outcry in the U.K. Cummings acted "with integrity" Johnson said yesterday, after his aide drove his wife and son from London to his parents' home in northern England while suffering symptoms.

That attempt to sail through the storm looks untenable: Elements of the Tory-supporting press have turned on the government, while ruling Conservative Party lawmakers are calling for Cummings to go.

More damaging, the decision looks hypocritical to a nation that has suffered the world's second-highest death toll. And to a public that has overwhelmingly heeded the government's Stay at Home message, sometimes at great personal cost.

Johnson has long appeared to defy political gravity. His infidelities and habitual falsehoods didn't seem to matter as he won a landslide election victory on a pledge to finally take the U.K. out of the European Union.

Six months on and after surviving a close call with the illness himself, he has lost his sheen of invincibility. As Britain faces its biggest collective set of challenges since World War II, the coronavirus may have just called his bluff.

Alan Crawford

Johnson and Cummings leave from 10 Downing Street in central London on October 28, 2019. 

Photographer: Tolga Akmen/ AFP via Getty Images

Tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.

Global Headlines

Boiling over | Hong Kong protesters held their biggest rally in months over opposition to sweeping new national security legislation planned by China. Police used tear gas and a water cannon after hundreds of people demonstrated in a central shopping district over the weekend. The scenes were reminiscent of the unrest that rocked the city last year and signaled pro-democracy protests are back after halting during the pandemic.

Political calculation | President Donald Trump's push to reopen the U.S. economy reflects the very different experiences between lives and livelihoods across the partisan divide. In states he won in the 2016 presidential election, 23 people have lost a job for every one person infected. In states Democrat Hillary Clinton took, the ratio is 13 to one. Those without a college education have been hit hardest by the Covid-19-related downturn, while black and Hispanic Americans, who heavily vote for Democratic candidates, have been more likely to die from the disease.

At a crossroads | The EU may move toward deeper integration on Wednesday when its executive unveils a proposal for funding the economic recovery. Germany and France set out a plan last week to generate 500 billion euros of grants funded by joint borrowing, the bloc's biggest step yet toward a more federal structure. The plan's main critics signaled they're ready to accept joint debt but want to disburse the funds as loans.

Premier defendant | Israel's longest-serving leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, has also become its first serving prime minister to face criminal trial. He appeared in Jerusalem District court yesterday in a corruption trial that threatens to end his political career, just a week after he was installed for a fifth term. In a defiant speech at the courthouse, he rejected the allegations against him and accused opponents of trying to overthrow him.

Libya retreat | More than 1,000 Russian and Syrian mercenaries in Libya have pulled back from the front lines after a Turkish military intervention halted an attempt by the Moscow-backed strongman Khalifa Haftar to capture the capital Tripoli, Samer Khalil Al-Atrush reports. The mercenaries with the Wagner company, headed by a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, withdrew with Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army, which is trying to oust the internationally recognized government that's backed by Turkey.

What to Watch This Week:

  • China today sharply criticized the U.S. decision to add 33 Chinese entities to a trade blacklist and said Beijing will take all necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests.
  • The Trump administration will start on Thursday to halt the entry of most non-U.S. citizens arriving from Brazil, where coronavirus cases have spiked to the second highest in the world.
  • A former coup leader with convictions for cocaine smuggling and murder, Suriname's president, Desi Bouterse, is bidding for a third five-year term today as voters elect a new parliament that will choose the tiny Latin American nation's leader.
  • Iran's religious shrines and mosques are due to reopen today while businesses, including those deemed "high risk," should resume work tomorrow.
  • Chile is reporting new coronavirus cases at a pace comparable to that of Spain at the peak of the virus's spread there in March. The crisis is highlighting the inequality and poor public services that drove millions of protesters to the streets last October.

Thanks to all who responded to our pop quiz Friday and congratulations to Floris Francesco, who was the first to identify Australia as the country that's in a trade spat with China over its calls for an investigation into the origin of Covid-19.

And finally ... Japan is lifting its state of emergency with new coronavirus cases dwindling, a success achieved largely by ignoring the default playbook. It didn't restrict people's movement and business activities, it didn't employ high-tech tracking apps and it doesn't even have a center for disease control. Testing? One of the lowest rates among developed nations. As Lisa Du and Grace Huang report, no one yet knows how it was able to flatten the curve. Only one thing is sure: No single factor made the difference.

Tsutenkaku tower in Osaka is lit up in green signaling the prefecture has met its target to lift restrictions.

Photographer: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Bloomberg

 

 

A special offer for Balance of Power readers | For just $1.99 a month, get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters.

 

No comments