Because of coronavirus, the PM's recent battles seem rather frivolous
In recent days, Boris Johnson has stepped his coronavirus response up a gear as the situation has become more serious.
Tuesday 3 March 2020 22:50, UK
Boris Johnson's been dubbed the "chairman prime minister" or the "part-time prime minister", depending on which side of the political divide you sit.聽
Supporters see him as the head of the board, empowering his cabinet to deal with the day-to-day running of his government as he paints the big picture.
For his opponents he is a leader who enjoys the spoils of power but is less interested in putting in the hard graft and leading from the front.
But in the past 72 hours that mood in No 10 has changed.
The UK could be facing the worst prolonged pandemic in nearly a century in the coming months.
Every one of us could contract the disease. One in five of us could be off work sick at the peak of the outbreak. The army might have to be deployed to help police our streets and all non-urgent NHS care could be cancelled.
In the coming weeks we might be asked to work from home, avoid public gatherings and keep away from the elderly.
In times like these the public want to know their prime minister and his team have got a grip: BBC boycotts, running battles between ministers and mandarins, and briefing wars between advisers all seem rather frivolous against the backdrop of what the country is now facing.
It is a sentiment that has not been lost on Downing Street.
In recent days, the prime minister has stepped up a gear as the situation has become more serious.
He has taken charge of the last emergency COBRA meeting, visited NHS staff working on suspected coronavirus cases in hospital and become far more visible to the public.
Today, flanked by his chief medical officer and his chief scientific officer, the prime minister spoke of the "national challenge" facing us all as he sought to reassure people his government has a grip.
Taking all the questions that journalists wanted answering in the longest press conference of his premiership, Mr Johnson is suddenly very much engaged. He knows this crisis will define his government.
Those around him insist the wider programme of government will not be put on the back burner as ministers try to manage a coronavirus epidemic. Whitehall must be able to walk and chew gum.
Yes coronavirus will be the priority, but there is the bandwidth to manage other key issues like the trade talks, infrastructure investment and criminal justice reform.
But a quick read of the government's 28-page coronavirus action plan points to a more singular focus in the coming months - whatever the Johnson team might hope for now.
The document released on Tuesday may be light on detail - skimming over plans to ban gatherings, restrict our movements and deal with spikes in death rates - but it leaves little doubt about the scale of the crisis should the outbreak develop into a full-blown pandemic.
Move into that territory and it is inevitable that capacity across Whitehall will get hoovered up.
The public won't care much about trade talks, criminal justice reform and what happens to high speed rail projects when they are worrying about the safety of their families, access to healthcare, public safety and food supplies. They'll want the government to focus all its efforts on trying to keep them safe.
Already next week's budget has been downgraded from the "decade of renewal" blueprint into something very different, with the government's coronavirus plans - including emergency funding packages - taking front and centre stage.
Big announcements on spending plans might be delayed until fiscal events later this year.
It's hard for the Treasury to make plans when it can't yet predict the impact this possible pandemic could have on the domestic and global economy.
And while it might seem unconscionable right now, there might be a moment in a few months' time that the government thinks again about the pace of EU trade talks and timing of our exit from the transition period.
Could the UK and EU press pause if they find themselves in the grip of fighting a global pandemic just as they are due to be trying to seal a deal?
Even the most capable government would struggle to cope with managing a prolonged pandemic while also gearing up our borders and businesses for a no trade deal exit from the EU - particularly if the peaks in the coronavirus outbreaks come in two waves later this year.
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A government which is preparing for the worst and working for the best, for now it is business as usual for all of us.
But not for Mr Johnson: the chairman-in-chief will now have to be far more hands on as he moves onto an emergency footing.
He has his plan and the public expect him to lead from the front.
Virus Outbreak: Global Emergency - Watch a special Sky News programme on coronavirus at 6pm weekdays.