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Pretends to have everything under control: Boris Johnson on a visit to the Jenner Institute in Oxford in mid-September
Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth / dpa
On Tuesday, Boris Johnson was asked in parliament why Germany and Italy were doing so much better than the United Kingdom despite the new corona outbreak.
Quite simply, replied the head of government: His country is different from other nations, "freedom-loving" people live here.
They could not simply be asked to "follow the rules uniformly".
Thereupon incredulous laughter echoed through the sparsely occupied lower house;
even a few Tory MPs looked embarrassed.
Because six months after the start of the corona crisis, a slightly different reading prevailed across all parties: According to this, many British people are sticking to the rules less and less because Johnson, who ruled with emergency powers, changed them so often that hardly anyone can see through them.
Since this week, the freedom-loving English have again had to accept considerable restrictions.
Employees who were told by the government for weeks that they had to go back to the office should now stay at home.
Pubs and restaurants that the Chancellor of the Exchequer helped with millions in payments over the summer must now close by 10 p.m. at the latest.
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