NOW that Dominic Cummings has reappeared at Number 10, it will be interesting to see if his experience of the symptoms of coronavirus has changed his perspective on this global pandemic. From what we’ve witnessed so far, it would seem that Cummings isn’t much of a fan of humanity. It’s not his style.

It’s not exactly Johnson’s USP either, a man whose career and power prospects take dominance over everything else. Only time will tell if Johnson’s experience of severe illness and the wonderful expert care he received from the NHS will have smoothed off these rough edges for the benefit of the greater good.

Cummings has stayed very quiet about his personal experience of self-isolation, perhaps taking it “on the chin” as his leader infamously advised.

It’s been apparent in their absence that the Johnson/Cummings double act really do run the show. Without the power behind the throne and Johnson’s bumbling battle cries at the podium, those left to man the battlements while their leader(s) were recovering from Covid-19 looked like headless chickens, unable to answer very basic questions on death and loss and the scandalous lack of PPE for key workers during this crisis.

Johnson and Cummings chose their cabinet deliberately to ensure compliance with their Brexit plans; these new appointees understood what they were signing up to, but they maybe weren’t prepared to step up so comprehensively in such dire straits. Home Secretary Priti Patel appeared to go into hiding initially before her car-crash debut at the daily briefing and interim leader Dominic Raab’s face said it all, betraying his panic and dismay when standing in for the PM.

With this kind of power dynamics in play, it’s hard to imagine how this government can switch from Brexit division to saviour mode at this time of crisis. Because, so far, it would seem that Johnson and Cummings have only one modus operandi – and it’s divide and conquer, by fair means or foul. Don’t forget, Cummings is still in contempt of parliament for shenanigans during his tenure as the brains behind the Vote Leave campaign. And Johnson has been rather vague about keeping to the Brexit timetable despite Europe and indeed the world having rather more pressing issues to address in the here and now. Issues such as life or death; issues such as economic depression and massive job losses; issues such as everything we’ve taken for granted being turned on its head for an indefinite timeframe.

It’s ironic, really, that the UK Government have adopted the “whatever it takes” mantra to tackle this coronavirus crisis, when truly it is the negative aspect of this attitude that got them into Number 10 in the first place with a campaign of misinformation and misdirection on leaving the EU, as well as fostering a deep-rooted distrust of expertise in their supporters. Facts and figures were abandoned in a crusade of almost religious proportions in order to do whatever it took to “get Brexit done”.

Now we’re well and truly through the looking glass and from the other side looking in, we all know that we need experts like never before. Now we need objective data, clear statistics and evidence-led processes to tackle this unprecedented global pandemic. Now we need grown-up leadership and tough decision-making. We need co-operation among nations, altruism and shared resources, not isolation, exceptionalism or head-in-the-sand politicking.

It remains to be seen if Johnson and Cummings are up to this task. The evidence so far suggests that they may have made the wrong decisions at crucial points, that they delayed and dithered, belittled and made light of the risks in a window of opportunity that could have saved many lives.

Theirs was a pick-and-mix approach to scientific advice and, as Professor Helen Ward wrote in The Guardian last week, they refused to listen to those recommending to “lockdown earlier … (to) test, trace and isolate”. Ward added that the advice from the World Health Organisation was to “use every possible tool to suppress transmission”, and given their extensive experience in dealing with pandemics, it would have been prudent to follow their lead.

However, while countries such as Denmark and the Republic of Ireland were enforcing strict lockdowns towards the earlier part of March, football matches, concerts and the decision to allow the Cheltenham Festival to go ahead created a toxic Petri dish to spread the virus at home.

There is no going back from this. But there are opportunities to take decisive action to save more lives now and the UK Government should be looking to their European counterparts for ideas rather than their natural inclination to veer to the US and President Trump’s style of populist disaster politics.

This will involve Johnson and Cummings stepping way out of their comfort zones, putting their personal political wish list on hold and working in tandem with their natural allies across the English sea and in the northern reaches of the EU, while learning from the terrible experience of the Italians and the Spanish.

They’re going to have to dig deep both diplomatically and personally. For Cummings this will mean abandoning his pet projects and his subjective amalgamation of obscure theories hidden in the darker corners of the internet.

It will mean rejecting the advice of “weirdos” and preferred outliers and focusing on what’s best for all UK citizens by acting on expert advice.

For Johnson, it will mean stepping up to his Churchillian aspirations as more than just a subjective fanboy.

If he was to ask “what would Churchill do?” he’d see that now is the time for statesmanlike sacrifice. He’d realise that a sense of history and an understanding of the past, which was central to the wartime Prime Minister’s action plan, is essential in order to not replicate the same terrible mistakes of the past.

Context is everything at times like this. And Johnson, who is well aware of his own charisma and in awe of Churchill’s, should use this time to communicate effectively with the public to imbue trust and confidence in his government’s plan to tackle the pandemic.

Watching Angela Merkel explain model observations to flatten the curve and not overtax their health system was a masterclass in communication and belief that citizens need to know clearly and concisely what is going on in order to fully buy-in to a successful exit strategy from lockdown. I hope Johnson was taking notes.

And talking of leaders getting it right for their citizens, perhaps Johnson and Cummings should take a leaf out of Jacinda Ardern’s book. The New Zealand Prime Minister announced this past week that she and her ministers were going to take a 20% pay cut over the next six months in order to show solidarity with those affected by Covid-19. Now that is what I call “levelling up”, that is truly all being in it together. That is leadership.

Here is where Johnson might need to make the biggest sacrifice for himself and for the greater good of the survival of our citizens in terms of emulating his hero Churchill. How did the British electorate reward their wartime PM once the horror and death had passed? They voted in an entirely different government. They rejected Toryism and plumped for change in the form of Labour and Clement Attlee. And that decision rolled out the greatest social and political change of last century with their introduction of the NHS and the Welfare State.

The next few weeks will see what Johnson is prepared to do politically – and how much he is prepared to lose personally – during this crisis. Cummings’s moment to enact his personal mission of radical change at the heart of government and take apart the civil service couldn’t have come at a worse time. Perhaps he’ll need to take that on the chin too.

Scotland is in lockdown. Shops are closing and newspaper sales are falling fast. It’s no exaggeration to say that the future of The National is at stake. Please consider supporting us through this with a digital subscription from just £2 for 2 months by following this link: http://www.thenational.scot/subscribe. Thanks – and stay safe.