lockdown
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…
Covid pingdemic takes its toll on Britain's economic bounce-back
The arrival of ‘freedom day’ on 19 July enabled people to return to concerts, festivals, and ditch social distancing, but…
Why Gove’s night on the dance floor is good news
I was pleased to see pictures of Michael Gove at a nightclub in Aberdeen last weekend. According to press reports,…
Zero-Covid is wishful thinking if Australia wants to rejoin the world
As former Australian foreign minister and High Commissioner to the UK Alexander Downer wrote in last week’s magazine, almost all…
Homeric levels of misery: Paradise, at the Olivier Theatre, reviewed
The National Theatre has given Sophocles’s Philoctetes a makeover and a new title, Paradise. This must be ironic because the…
The blind spot in the SNP's 'war on drink'
Scotland’s grim reputation for abnormally high drug fatalities has become embedded in the public consciousness over the past year. The…
Will Covid turn into the common cold?
Many experts and modellers thought that the 19 July reopening would be a disaster. So far, that has not been…
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…
How Australia was caught in lockdown limbo
Sajid Javid’s deleted weekend tweet about Britain ‘learning to live with, rather than cower from Covid’ upset just about everyone…
Sajid Javid: My isolation diary
You always remember when a prime minister calls you to ask you to take on a new role, and you…
Now what? The government’s Covid optimism is fading fast
The government’s Covid optimism is fading fast
The 2020s will be boring, not roaring
Earlier this year, I noted the suggestion (made by an American academic and run with by a swathe of the…
When will Boris get serious about balancing the budget?
Should we be pleased that net government borrowing for June came in below expectations, at £22.8 billion – £5.5 billion…
Boris Johnson's sombre 'freedom day' press conference
On the day that nearly all legal Covid restrictions go, one could be forgiven for presuming ministers would be in the…
The depressing spectacle of ‘freedom day’
It was billed as ‘freedom day’. Yet few people, it seems, either want to enjoy their new-found freedom or are…
How ‘freedom day’ became ‘chaos day’
Welcome to ‘freedom day’, or more properly ‘chaos day’ – with businesses warning they can’t operate because too many employees…
Has Boris got cold feet over ‘freedom day’?
A very strange ‘freedom day’ greets us on Monday. Legally, almost all restrictions will be lifted. But practically, ministers are…
How the ancients kept people behaving responsibly
The Prime Minister is urging citizens not to throw caution to the winds when lockdown ends on 19 July but…
Whitty's lockdown warning will trouble Boris
In a Science Museum webinar yesterday, Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, warned about the increasing number of people in…
Johnson urges caution ahead of final easing
How different will life be after 19 July? Not very, if the Prime Minister’s press conference this evening was anything…
Sajid Javid says restrictions could return after ‘freedom day’
In another sign of the government’s more cautious approach to the July 19 unlocking, Sajid Javid has just told the…
Are ministers prepared for ‘freedom day’?
Is the government having a wobble over ‘Freedom Day’ on 19 July? Well, for one thing you won’t hear ministers…
Why I’ve gone off country sports
‘Oh, I do so love to see all the lovely pheasants running around the place,’ said the lady walking the…
The long list of problems waiting for the Tories after 19 July
The long-awaited easing of restrictions will not be the triumphant moment that many expected back in May. The Delta variant…
Boris Johnson must hold his nerve over lifting restrictions
A charge repeatedly made against Boris Johnson over the past 16 months is that he has ‘ignored scientific advice’. But…
