Boris Johnson has been called “Mr U-turn” in his time as prime minister this reputation has been well-earned. A conservative count gives more than 30 often panicked policy changes since the 2019 general election. ‘Ignore Covid’ to national lockdown 31 January 2020 The BBC quoted the prime minister as saying the “best thing would be to ignore” Covid around the time the first UK case was detected; a claim Downing Street declined to deny. Ministers soon had to take drastic action. Mass community testing 12 March 2020 Mass testing was ended despite World Health Organization (WHO) advice that it was vital. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, subsequently announced a target of 500,000 tests a day by the end of October 2020. Bereavement scheme 20 May 2020 A scheme granting indefinite leave to remain in the UK to relatives of foreign national NHS staff who died from Covid-19 initially excluded cleaners, porters and social care workers. It was eventually extended to low-paid workers. Visa surcharge 21 May 2020 Johnson backed away from a policy requiring people coming to the UK to work for the NHS to pay a health surcharge. Proxy voting 3 June 2020 Ministers dropped their opposition to allowing proxy voting for shielding MPs amid significant opposition. Marcus Rashford’s free school meals campaign 16 June 2020 Johnson belatedly bowed to pressure to help feed hungry children outside school term time, insisting he had been unaware of his own government’s concerted fight against the England footballer’s campaign. NHS app 18 June 2020 Several months and millions of pounds after backing an NHS anti-Covid app, ministers finally acknowledged it would not work. Reopening primary schools 9 June 2020 Johnson insisted primary schools in England should reopen. But ministers eventually agreed to listen to experts who had warned the plan was unworkable. Face coverings in shops 14 July 2020 The government insisted face coverings should not be mandatory in shops because people would not be in close proximity for long. Weeks later, they became mandatory in England. Huawei ban 14 July 2020 Johnson had ignored Washington’s warnings that Huawei posed a threat. But he backtracked and it was announced that Huawei kit would be stripped out of the 5G phone networks. Local contact tracers 10 August 2020 Ministers finally agreed to adopt a regional approach to contact tracing – following the examples of some foreign nations – after months of pursuing a £10bn centralised contact-tracing model. Exam results in England 15 August 2020 Johnson initially insisted 2020’s A-level results were “robust” and the education secretary said there would be no U-turn on their calculation. Within two days, the government U-turned. Face masks in schools 25 August 2020 Days before secondary schools in England were due to reopen, Johnson scrapped his government’s plan to advise against wearing face masks. Eviction ban 20 August 2020 Ministers made a series of threats to lift the ban on evictions imposed during the pandemic – including in August 2020 – and relented several times. England’s second lockdown 31 October 2020 Having ignored scientific advice in favour of a two-week national “circuit breaker” lockdown for England in September, Johnson announced a month-long lockdown for November. Furlough scheme extension 5 November 2020 The chancellor had looked to wind down the furlough scheme. But he was forced into a series of embarrassing climbdowns because of the scale of the second coronavirus wave. Marcus Rashford’s free school meals campaign – again 8 November 2020 Ministers took up the fight against Rashford once again. And, once again, they backed down; announcing a £170m winter grant scheme for families struggling due to Covid. Cancelling Christmas 19 December 2020 Johnson again tried to avoid making a decision on Covid restrictions and, again, was forced to belatedly introduce them. The nation’s Christmas plans were plunged into chaos. Lockdown a day after opening schools 4 January 2021 A day after urging children to return to classrooms, insisting it was safe, Johnson announced it was not safe even to leave the house and locked England down. Health secretary’s resignation 26 June 2021 Johnson accepted Matt Hancock’s apology for breaching social distancing guidelines and declared the matter “closed” on the Friday. Johnson accepted Hancock’s resignation on the Saturday. Johnson and Sunak self-isolating 18 July 2021 The prime minister and chancellor were forced to self-isolate after coming into contact with the health secretary, who had contracted Covid. They had tried to avoid it, claiming to be part of a pilot testing scheme. Foreign aid spending 13 July 2021 In his 2019 manifesto, Johnson promised overseas aid spending of 0.7% of GDP. About a year and a half later, he cut billions of pounds from the budget. Taking the knee 14 July 2021 Johnson demanded action against people guilty of racial abuse at football matches after being criticised for offering tacit backing to those who booed England’s players taking the knee to protest against racial abuse at football matches. Air passenger quarantine 17 July 2021 Plans to allow Britons who have had two jabs to return from amber list countries without isolating for up to 10 days were dropped in respect of France – one of the most popular destinations – at the last minute. The Northern Ireland protocol 21 July 2021 Johnson trumpeted the deal he struck over Brexit. But, within less than two years, his government was already trying to unpick it, claiming it had proven unworkable. Critical worker pingdemic 22 July 2021 An insistence that double-vaccinated critical workers would not be exempted from self-isolation was dropped as hundreds of thousands were pinged. Afghan guards 20 August 2021 Ministers backed away from their initial refusal to support 125 Afghan guards who protected the British embassy in Kabul before its fall. It later emerged only one had made it to the UK. National insurance rises 8 September 2021 Johnson was accused of breaking a key manifesto pledge not to raise taxes when his government brought forward plans to hike national insurance contributions. Vaccine passports 12 September 2021 Vaccine passport plans were dropped only two weeks after Downing Street insisted it would press ahead. Within another two days, the prime minister raised the prospect yet again. Foreign lorry drivers 24 September 2021 With queues forming at fuel stations, ministers were forced to rethink their post-Brexit anti-immigration stance and invite thousands of foreign lorry drivers to the UK. Sewage 26 October 2021 Ministers announced a partial U-turn after reject calls to place a legal duty on water companies to reduce raw sewage discharges into rivers. Parliamentary standards and corruption 4 November 2021 Plans to immediately scrap the parliamentary standards system were dropped amid public fury, as the Tories were accused of acting to protect one of their own. The PM’s own standards 21 April 2022 Tory MPs were initially told to vote for an amendment that would effectively torpedo Labour efforts to place Johnson under parliamentary investigation – only for No 10 to change its mind on the morning of the debate and give MPs a free vote.
The windfall tax With the country facing hefty rises to energy bills, Labour proposed a tax on the extraordinary profits being made by the North Sea oil and gas firms. On 18 May, Johnson refused to act and accused the opposition of seeking “always and everywhere to raise taxes on businesses”. On 26 May, his government introduced a tax on the extraordinary profits being made by the North Sea oil and gas firms. The energy loan In April, the energy minister, Greg Hands, went on Question Time to bat for the government, trying to convince the audience that the government’s £200 energy bill rebate, which recipients would be required to pay back, was something other than a loan. It did not wash. A little more than a month later, the chancellor agreed it would not need to be repaid after all; doubling it to £400 and converting it to a grant.