Columns
What will life look like after 21 June?
‘Alas’ is a word used many times by Boris Johnson during the pandemic. It is how he prefaces announcements that…
Where will vaccine passports take us?
Desperate to find someone to commemorate with a statue for having done great things, but who isn’t a white male,…
The case for immunity passports
For more than 20 years, I’ve been raging away at pointless rules. When my blood’s up, there’s not a foam-flecked…
Will freedom always be just over the horizon?
We should talk about horizons, and the setting of desirable ones. A newspaper gave it a go the other day…
It is time to make friends with the EU
On Monday morning, Clément Beaune, Emmanuel Macron’s Europe Minister, clipped out the section of his media interview criticising Britain’s vaccination…
I’m living in a country that won’t let me out
Anyone who’s been through customs Down Under isn’t surprised by the region’s OTT response to Covid. Having been X-rayed before…
Facts are now history
Your quiz for the week is to make the connection between the following people: fun-loving Greek hack Homer, veteran US…
The Northern Ireland protocol problem
Ursula von der Leyen now admits that she overreacted in the EU’s vaccine row with the UK. She has spoken…
The sticky truth about Navalny
His courage is exhilarating. Even if you think his cause hopeless, Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader and Putin-baiter, deserves…
The importance of daydreams
I miss daydreaming. It’s a small problem to have in a pandemic, but it nags at me. Laptop, cooker, home-school,…
The disconnect of Davos Man
You may have missed Ursula von der Leyen’s big speech at Davos last week. Most people did. Perhaps because Davos…
What if Covid had struck in the 1970s?
We have reached Covid-19’s first anniversary in the UK — and I really think we should do something fitting to…
Vaccine success is a boost for Boris – and the Union
Imagine for a minute what British politics would be like without a Covid vaccine. The cabinet would be deeply, and…
For Democrats, the Capitol assault was the gift that keeps on giving
As events recede, they change. When Donald Trump’s unhinged endgame culminated in a popular assault on the Capitol, most Americans…
‘Inessential’ workers have helped keep the country afloat
A common sight across Britain these past ten months has been those rainbow flags fluttering in urban and village streets:…
The big tech bullies
I was in the kitchen preparing the family’s dinner when the inauguration of Joe Biden was on TV, so I…
What’s next for the Special Relationship?
This is a crucial year for the UK’s two most important relationships. The Anglo-American alliance, our strongest diplomatic and security…
What makes us think they’ll release lockdown after vaccines?
Has the coup happened yet? You have the advantage over me. It was supposed to have taken place on Sunday.…
Could the Australian approach to Covid work in Britain?
The government’s most important economic policy is its vaccination programme. The speed at which people are immunised will determine when…
Where will the American right turn now?
Here’s a trick question: who said the following, and when? ‘Serious questions have arisen about the accuracy and reliability of…
How cults crumble
There’s something creepy about the way we call Donald Trump fans a cult, then watch them hungrily, hoping they’ll do…
We’re starting to see a new foreign policy for Brexit Britain
What will Brexit Britain do differently? This is going to be the most important question in our politics for the…
Who volunteers to be lectured by children?
The screenwriter Russell T. Davies has said that only gay actors should be cast in gay parts, believing this leads…
Mandelson’s story could have been so very different
Matt Forde, the stand-up comedian and presenter of his regular Political Party Podcast, has hit on an overlooked technique for…
From Trumpism to lockdown, people believe in the craziest things
Following his disgruntled supporters’ rampage through the Capitol, Donald Trump’s fate hangs in the balance. But one artefact of this…