If the government can’t sort out free school meals, how is it is going to shape ‘Global Britain’?

That Marcus Rashford has been able to force a change in government policy tells us a lot about the modern power of celebrity, premiership football, social media – and the astonishing weakness of the Boris Johnson government.

Another U-turn, then, almost routine now. If a government cannot get its policies through parliament with a majority of 80 or so, and less than six months after a thumping victory in a general election, then it’s worth asking what it’s for. How, if it can’t sort out free school meals, is it is going to shape “Global Britain” through the 2020s, as seems to be its increasingly unrealistic ambition?

Rarely has a handsome win at the polls been followed by such a swift denouement. Mr Johnson is having to execute as many U-turns as Theresa May’s minority government. Of course, much of the narrative volte-face have little to do with the merits of the case. Mr Rashford, who comes from a poor background, understands poverty and made a powerful appeal via the powerful medium of Twitter.

No doubt some Tories were moved by his open letter to them, and recognised the force of public opinion. Still, many others may have been waiting since the Dominic Cummings scandal to get their own back for the prime minister ignoring their wishes and squandering his poll lead just to retain the services of the “career psychopath”. To that extent, this latest humiliation is doubly the prime minister’s own fault.

Whatever Mr Johnson’s entertainment value, and allowing for his serious illness with Covid-19, this is not a model of strong and stable government.

Obviously, the government is grappling with the twin public health and economic crises, but it must be worrying that this latest goal against him has been scored both by a Manchester United striker and some clever midfield play by the Labour front bench. Like the reversal of policy on reopening the schools, on the foreign health workers’ fees, on border posts after Brexit and MPs’ voting arrangements, Sir Keir Starmer has enjoyed some notable early successes as leader of the opposition – a post he has only held for two months.

It is the sheer frequency and range of U-turns that suggests something is going very wrong with this administration. Apart from those designed to avoid set-piece defeats on Labour amendments in the Commons and on Brexit, there are the many changes of direction and outright failures over Covid-19: entering lockdown too late; downgrading scientific guidance; shortages of ventilators and protective equipment; and, of course, the long saga of testing and tracing.

Why do ministers keep getting things wrong?

There are some obvious points. Some are out of their depth, inexperienced or over-promoted. Perhaps the next reshuffle will remove some of the duds, young and old, though Mr Johnson’s premiership is not quite a year old and the government has had two facelifts already.

There seems to be a never-ending Byzantine struggle for power within Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, between the cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, Mark Sedwill, the prime minister’s chief adviser, Mr Cummings, and the newly installed No 10 permanent secretary, Simon Case, though they cannot be blamed for every minor disaster.

The one thing that is becoming very clear is that Mr Johnson’s political gifts are more suited to campaigning and speechifying than the more prosaic business of running the country. He would like to be the upbeat cheerleading “Mayor of Britain”, as he was mayor of London. He is a figure best suited to the good times, bored with detail, and is in denial about the huge challenges of the coronavirus, Brexit and racial injustice. In current conditions, that’s not good for him or anyone else.