Letters: The uncivil service
Uncivil service Sir: The elephant in the room in the handling of the pandemic (‘A tragedy of errors’, 29 May)…
Covid is losing its sting. It’s time to repair our society and our economy
It seems all but impossible to convince government scientists of the wisdom of proceeding with the final lifting of Covid…
Portrait of the week: Boris Johnson’s wedding, bitcoin blackouts and a £140m tomato ketchup factory
Home Freelance scientists urged the government not to end coronavirus regulations on 21 June, for fear of a third wave.…
Have tennis players always been expected to give interviews?
Game, set, chat Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open after being fined $15,000 for failing to…
2506: Summer’s voice - solution
The unclued lights are ferns: RUSTY-BACK (26/5A), WALL RUE (48/7A), MAIDENHAIR (1D/11), OSMUNDA (18), BIRD’S-NEST (20/45) and POLYPODY (24). PTERIDOMANIA…
The lesson from Dominic Cummings – avoid groupthink
It is hard to deny the importance of the issues raised this week by Dominic Cummings. His decision to identify…
How safe are cable cars?
Marrying in office It was announced Boris Johnson will marry his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, next year. This will be only…
Portrait of the week: Bashir’s reckoning, Dominic Cummings’s evidence and ‘secret’ local lockdowns
Home The BBC was engulfed in doubts after a report by Lord Dyson blamed Martin Bashir for deceiving the late…
Letters: The unfairness of ‘free care for all’
Taking care Sir: I agree completely with Leo McKinstry that care for parents should be paid out of their estate…
2505: Endgame - solution
The unclued lights are the final headwords for B, D, E, F, S, T, U, W, as listed in Chambers.…
Cummings, Covid and groupthink - a cautionary tale
It is hard to deny the importance of the issues raised this week by Dominic Cummings. His decision to identify…
2504: Collectors’ Items - solution
Unclued lights are nuts, as suggested in the perimetrical rhyme. First prize Adrian George, Barton under Needwood, Staffs Runners-up Willie…
Is hugging healthy?
Call to arms Is hugging important to health? A study by Carnegie Mellon University and published in the journal Psychological…
Letters: The beauty of brick
The Union in peril Sir: Fraser Nelson (‘The great pretender’, 15 May) writes that it has never been easier to…
Why Britain must unlock on 21 June
The scare over the Indian variant of coronavirus this week is a taste of what to expect over the next…
Portrait of the week: Indian variant goes up, Santander goes down and pubs reopen
Home The government made noises about having to delay the lifting of coronavirus restrictions on 21 June in some parts…
Letters: China has peaked
China has peaked Sir: Niall Ferguson makes some good points about the nature of Xi Jinping’s imperial aspirations but misses…
Portrait of the week: Scotland votes, Queen speaks and Israel-Palestine crisis escalates
Home A new complexion of British politics was revealed by the capture of Hartlepool by Jill Mortimer for the Conservatives…
What Europe could learn from Britain’s new migration system
While the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has no formal role in devising the bloc’s immigration policy, his…
How does the ‘red wall’ story end?
At Redwall Abbey Does fiction provide any guide as to the ultimate fate of Labour’s Red Wall? — Redwall Abbey…
2503: Applery - solution
The traditional county towns were Chester (misprinted as CHEATER: 27), Durham (DERHAM: 21), Derby (DERRY: 32), Lewes (LENES: 36), Reading…
Which prime minister spent the most on their Downing Street flat?
Flat spin Which prime minister spent the most on their Downing Street flat, according to figures reported over the years?…
Letters: The C of E’s obsession with critical race theory
Christian approach Sir: Dr Michael Nazir-Ali’s criticism of our report ‘From Lament to Action’ (‘Bad faith’, 1 May) was wide…
Portrait of the week: Covid retreats, raves resume and a £165,000 squid
Home ‘I think we have got a good chance of being able to dispense with the one-metre-plus from 21 June,’…
Data, not dates: there is no reason to delay a return to normal life
A slogan can come back to haunt you. For Boris Johnson, the words ‘data not dates’ sounded powerful at a…
