Barely a fortnight ago, Boris Johnson was loudly mocking the call by Labour leader Keir Starmer for the UK government to follow the Welsh example and introduce a Covid ‘circuit break’ lockdown in England.

Such measures, according to Boris Johnson, were not necessary and England would not follow suit. What Johnson didn’t tell parliament was that at a Cobra meeting a week earlier, his own Chief Medical Officer had advised that unless urgent action was taken the virus would spiral out of control and the NHS would be overwhelmed.

The existing restrictions were insufficient, they were told, limited measures would not work and a circuit break was necessary. Rather than upset many of his own backbenchers – and to the exasperation of those present – he chose to ignore that advice.

It was at this moment that the Welsh government and the devolved nations knew they had no alternative but to carry on alone if they were to have any chance of containing the virus. On October 19th, Welsh Labour First Minister Mark Drakeford announced a seventeen-day firebreak starting at 6pm on October 23rd.

The message to the Welsh people was that the fortnight-long action was needed to save lives and prevent the Welsh NHS from being overwhelmed. “This is the moment,” Drakeford said, “to come together, to play our part in a common endeavour to protect the NHS and save lives. This will not be easy but we will do it together.”

In the absence of any additional UK financial support, the Welsh government constructed its own  £300 million package from within its own resources to support businesses and supplement wage support schemes. Approaches made to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak for extended financial support for those workers who would be furloughed were rebuffed.

Just like the North of England – whose mayors were in revolt against a lack of financial support – Wales found itself cut adrift by Westminster.

Now a week into the Welsh circuit break – and leaving it to the very last minute to act – Boris Johnson has made a complete u-turn and introduced an English four-week lockdown. To the anger of the devolved governments, the money that was denied to them, and that was denied the Northern regional mayors, has been found.

The furlough scheme is to be extended if, and only if it appears, it meets the needs of Southern England. “When we were asking it was impossible to do it,” Mark Drakeford said, “now when they have made new decisions in England it is possible… When things change in England they change their minds about the furlough plan. And that’s not fair.”

The past couple of weeks have not only exposed the gross incompetence of the Johnson government but also his lack of fitness for office as a Prime Minister for the whole of the UK. With his tail between his legs, he has been forced to impose a lockdown far deeper and longer than would have been the case had he listened to the medical and scientific advice he was originally presented with. 

Undoubtedly some who might otherwise have been saved will die because of his opportunistic prevarication. Another consequence of this failure of leadership is to drive an even deeper wedge between the devolved nations, the English regional mayors and Westminster.

It has led to growing emergence of an alliance of regional and devolved governments, frustrated by Johnson’s failure, deliberate or otherwise, to recognise the need to ensure their participation in the  decision-making process and strategy. Mark Drakeford, who in particular is known for his measured tone, has grown increasingly angry at the UK government’s failings.

Several weeks ago at the Welsh government’s daily Covid-19 press briefing, he expressed his incomprehension at the refusal of the Prime Minister to restrict travel from high infection areas of England to low infection areas of England and Wales. This left the Welsh government with no option but to introduce the first-ever legal restriction under Welsh law on persons travelling from England into Wales.

This was not an accolade that Mark Drakeford had wanted as First Minister, rather it was forced onto him by the recklessness and irresponsibility of Westminster. His anger almost overflowed again this week when he spoke about the way in which the UK government was driving the country apart, and questioned whether a country run in such a way was capable of surviving in the long term.

Johnson’s excruciating failures have not only contributed to the English death toll and made it even harder to bring the virus under control. They have exposed an Anglo-centric perspective at the core  of the UK government, controlling the purse strings in favour of English interests (to be fair, distinctly Southern English interests) when it suits them, with the devolved nations and Northern regions little more than an afterthought.

Those who thought the union, for all its faults, was an insurance policy, sharing common endeavour and risk, and there to help when help was needed, have suddenly found they have a UK government which only offers support when it suits their preferred subsection of the country.

Add to this toxic mix Brexit and the Internal Market Bill, and the die would appear cast for an almighty constitutional conflict. Scotland, it seems, has had enough and looks ready to leave the union. In Wales the anger is growing. The truth is, it may not be far behind.