Welcome to The Political Fix by Rohan Venkataramakrishnan, a newsletter on Indian politics and policy. Send feedback to rohan@scroll.in. ...
Welcome to The Political Fix by Rohan Venkataramakrishnan, a newsletter on Indian politics and policy. Send feedback to rohan@scroll.in.
The Big Story: Blighty
Prime Minister Narendra Modi might find it useful to pay attention to the Covid-19 trajectory of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the past year or so.
Johnson infamously mismanaged his country’s response to the novel coronavirus in 2020, leaving the United Kingdom with one of the highest per capita death tolls globally. But then, Johnson appeared to have turned the ship around – aided by a successful homegrown vaccine rollout, a woeful Opposition and a favourable electoral calendar which his “good friend” in the United States, Donald Trump.
In July, with 87% of adults having received one dose of the vaccine and more than 68% fully vaccinated, the UK declared a triumphant “freedom day”. It dropped most Covid restrictions and essentially announcing that life would be back to normal. Covid concerns seemed to recede, with Johnson instead focusing on the new “Global Britain” and continued squabbling with the European Union.
Where do things stand today?
Britain is again facing around 50,000 new cases per day, experts are talking of a “devastating winter” and there are fears that a new mutation, Delta Plus, might be spreading fast.
It is important to...
