Boris Johnson needs to deliver his own Mario Draghi moment
At the start of a crisis, especially one as alien and as fast-moving as the Covid-19 pandemic, governments can count on a certain amount of public support.
Quite a high amount, in fact, as has been born out by recent polling revealing high levels of approval for the government’s handling of things so far.
But as the crisis takes hold, as its impact deepens and its consequences loom larger, the public can start to question elements of the official response.
Firstly, a political ceasefire that held in the first few weeks can fail as Westminster combatants get bored of peace.
For its part, the government is more than capable of provoking a resumption of hostilities, and the past 24 hours have shattered the truce.
Ministers, for the first time in this emergency, have dropped the ball. When Boris Johnson urged the public to avoid pubs, bars, clubs, restaurants and theatres he should have announced a watertight commitment to support these industries.
Furthermore, by stopping short of issuing an order to close such businesses, he has condemned them to limbo: devoid of customers but with no recourse to their insurance or existing support schemes beyond those announced in the Budget last week. It is telling that those measures, hailed as a £12bn resilience package, now seem wholly inadequate.
Business rates relief and some help with sick pay will do next to nothing for thousands upon thousands of businesses facing an immediate cash crunch and an utterly bleak few months.
Added to this, the calls for help from other industries are now deafening. Airlines are facing a crisis of epic proportions and the sector is braced for its own Lehman Brothers moment.
The rail industry cannot survive with passenger numbers plummeting and retailers, many of whom were struggling before anyone had heard of Covid-19, are increasingly concerned.
Behind all of this, seemingly resistant to the medicine of central banks, the stock market is gripped by fear and volatility. Now is not the time for academic arguments about creative destruction or the perils of state intervention.
If the government wants to stop a public health crisis being compounded by an economic catastrophe, it must act. Confidence must be restored.
It’s time for the PM to channel his inner Mario Draghi and declare that he will do “whatever it takes”.