covid

The many good things to come out of lockdown

19 December 2020 9:00 am

Laikipia I was drinking in the fresh air on the high earth wall of my farm dam last week, when…

Will Macron start an EU Covid chain reaction?

17 December 2020 9:43 pm

The Elysée palace has just confirmed that French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for Covid-19, after developing symptoms this…

Absorbing and beautifully designed: Jane Eyre reviewed

5 December 2020 9:00 am

Blackeyed Theatre is another victim of the virus. Its production of Jane Eyrewas midway through a UK tour, and due…

The genius of I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue

5 December 2020 9:00 am

I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue has just been voted the greatest radio comedy of all time by Radio Times,…

How we became a nation of choirs and carollers

5 December 2020 9:00 am

Alexandra Coghlan on how we became a nation of choirs and carollers

Did Brexit lead to the UK’s vaccine success?

3 December 2020 5:56 am

Today the United Kingdom became the first country in the West to clinically authorise a vaccine protecting against Covid-19, after…

Why I can no longer police the coronavirus restrictions

28 November 2020 6:32 pm

Earlier this month I resigned as a Special Constable, after serving for ten years as a volunteer officer in three…

Was Covid beginning to peak before the second lockdown?

24 November 2020 9:46 am

‘I don’t think that word means what you think it means,’ says the Spaniard Inigo Montoya in the film The…

My neighbour’s dinner party was a near-death experience

21 November 2020 9:00 am

At dawn, starving, I drove to a commercial laboratory in the town centre where five phials of blood were taken…

Landmark Danish study shows face masks have no significant effect

19 November 2020 6:45 pm

Do face masks work? Earlier this year, the UK government decided that masks could play a significant role in stopping…

The Beeb could turn this script into TV gold: Howerd's End reviewed

7 November 2020 9:00 am

It’s touch and go whether the theatre will survive this latest assault. Some venues have pushed back their entire programme…

Finally a lockdown drama that will endure: James Graham's Bubble reviewed

31 October 2020 9:00 am

Theatres can open if they want to. That’s the current position. The only factor keeping a playhouse dark is a…

Dear Mary: Why is my brother making me pay £400 for a drawing of my cat?

31 October 2020 9:00 am

Q. I would welcome your advice on a tricky family matter. For my 70th birthday earlier this year my brother…

Will Spain’s nation of rogues comply with the curfew?

27 October 2020 3:27 am

A few years ago, when I was in the queue to catch a plane, a Spanish lady caught me watching…

The joy of drinking alone

24 October 2020 9:00 am

Thanks to a combination of night-time curfews, social-distancing rules, pubs closing, restaurants failing, the ‘rule of six’ and compulsory mask-wearing,…

Portrait of the week: A Manchester stand-off, a Presidential showdown and a Brexit culture clash

24 October 2020 9:00 am

Home After ten days spent trying to persuade Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, to accede to the city…

Letters: why Scots want independence

24 October 2020 9:00 am

State of the Union Sir: Writing in a week that an opinion poll shows 58 per cent support for independence…

Britain’s bizarre Italian travel guidance

24 October 2020 9:00 am

Here’s a tip. When the Foreign Office advises against going somewhere, hop on the next plane. The mandarins have advised…

Boris Johnson needs to face down his own people

24 October 2020 9:00 am

To beat the virus, the government is asking us to keep to simple hands-face-space guidelines. When these are not followed,…

London’s war on motorists isn’t helping anybody

24 October 2020 9:00 am

London’s war on motorists isn’t helping anybody

Dear Mary: We’ve had to downsize our wedding – can we still ask everyone for presents?

17 October 2020 9:00 am

Q. A year ago we sent out 150 save-the-date notices for our wedding this December. We are still going ahead,…

Why we should consider testing Covid on prisoners

17 October 2020 9:00 am

The Covid problem lies as much in the delayed action of the virus as in the virus itself. Since symptoms…

Students who catch Covid may be saving lives

17 October 2020 9:00 am

Students who catch Covid may be saving lives by building up immunity

Covid has killed off our civil liberties

17 October 2020 9:00 am

It started with smoking. The 1960s and 1970s saw little popular objection to legislation restricting advertisements by private companies purveying…

Why isn’t the germaphobe President afraid of coronavirus?

17 October 2020 9:00 am

The weird thing about Donald Trump’s handling of Covid-19, alongside all the other weird things, is that he has always…