Leading article
Now Boris must make another admission: lockdown was a mistake
On 20 May 2020, the Metropolitan Police issued a statement on social media which summed up the conditions in the…
Counting the costs
Two and a half years into his premiership, Boris Johnson has enjoyed no more than a month of that time…
It's not too late for Boris Johnson
It is two years since Boris Johnson achieved one of the most remarkable election victories in modern history. The large…
Boris’s Covid rules are coming back to bite him
In normal circumstances, no one would care if staff in No. 10 held a Christmas party. But last year, Boris…
The army can’t be deployed for every crisis
Last week, the government published its blueprint for how it intends to remodel the army. According to the plan, it…
The true cost of Boris
Earlier this week, the Conservative party sent an appeal to its registered supporters asking them to become members. ‘We’re delivering…
Emad Al Swealmeen should not have been in Britain
Emad Al Swealmeen, who blew himself up in a taxi outside the Liverpool Women’s Hospital, is not believed to have…
The power of remembering
On the advice of doctors, Queen Elizabeth II will not attend this year’s Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall.…
The flaw in Britain’s net-zero plan
The COP26 summit is unlikely to be an outright flop. There has been no shortage of drama, with speakers seeming…
Rishi Sunak’s change of direction
The Conservative party has always sold itself to voters as the party of low taxation, but it has now pushed…
The government’s net zero strategy doesn’t add up
The commitment to reach ‘net zero’ emissions by 2050 is the most expensive government proposal in modern history. Yet it…
What will history have to say about lockdowns?
Coronavirus may have fallen out of the news cycle but the threat of the virus has certainly not passed. Britain…
The real issues facing trans people aren’t pronouns
It’s a strange reflection of our times that with so much else at stake, the leaders of both main parties…
In blockbuster Britain, the BBC is being left behind
There’s a great revival under way in the British TV and film industry, but it’s not the BBC that’s behind…
How the Tories have fuelled Britain’s energy crisis
Britain is caught in an energy crisis of the government’s own making. It is true that gas prices have spiked…
The case for an asylum amnesty
Many feared mass unemployment as a fallout from Covid-19. Instead, we have ended up with the opposite problem: a labour…
The emergency is over. Now the government must relinquish its emergency powers
For 18 months, the government has held power over us as never before in peacetime. The emergency powers granted by…
It’s time for NHS GPs to stop hiding behind their telephones
Nye Bevan famously said that he was only able to persuade family doctors to support the creation of the NHS…
Freedom to protest is not freedom to cause chaos
The concept of normality has been so disrupted over the past 18 months that the Extinction Rebellion protests — usually…
It’s time to end furlough – and let the British economy recover
At the start of this year, Britain looked as if it would be the first major country to vaccinate its…
Working from home is a decision for businesses, not government
After seizing so much power during the pandemic, Boris Johnson’s government is having trouble working out where its remit now…
Why is the mild West afraid to promote its democratic values?
An athlete seeking sanctuary in a foreign embassy after a state–sponsored attempt to spirit her home from the Olympics; a…
Why a return to a free and open world is vital
There is something bizarre about a sporting event designed to bring people and nations together but from which spectators have…
Boris is in danger of becoming the Prime Minister he once warned against
Back when Boris Johnson was on a mission to stop identity cards being used in Britain, he made a very…
Yes, they're deplorable – but those football tweets don't prove Britain is racist
There are two certainties whenever England’s football team plays; one that is long-established and the other a recent phenomenon. Players…
