Therese Raphael: Boris Johnson stumbles from crisis to crisis

The British prime minister must manage a rise in infections and a shrinking economy at a time when political support is dwindling

UK prime minister Boris Johnson on a visit to Appledore Shipyard in Devon. Johnson still has an 80-seat majority and is firmly in charge. But a potential second wave of the virus has brought the first real opposition he has faced since the December vote.  Picture: Ben Birchall/PA

Boris Johnson is right back where he was six months ago: Faced with a choice of how far to clamp down on freedoms in order to suppress the coronavirus’s transmission. 

Only then the strategy was simple. Britain’s lockdown was to protect the capacity of the National Health Service in order to save lives. This time, the goal is more complicated and so are Johnson’s choices.