lockdown

The economic case for ditching mask mandates

6 July 2021 8:04 pm

After many months of hardship and sacrifice, freedom is finally within grasp. Boris Johnson has reclaimed his buccaneering, libertarian spirit…

Lockdown killed my mother – and thousands like her

3 July 2021 9:00 am

Lockdown killed my mother – and thousands like her

It’s the end of lockdown – and the village has gone wild

3 July 2021 9:00 am

The village square is a long and pedestrianised oblong shaded along its length by massive pollarded plane trees. It’s known…

The art of Dolly Parton’s bra

26 June 2021 9:00 am

New York I hope this is my last week in the Bagel. I plan to fly first to Switzerland and…

The virus threat has changed. Now Test and Trace must too

26 June 2021 9:00 am

Under what circumstances can a government restrict the liberty of the people? An example was given last year: in a…

The new Covid divide: one rule for the elite, another for the rest of us

26 June 2021 9:00 am

Politicians made the rules – so they know how to bend them

The promoter the critics love to hate: an interview with Raymond Gubbay

19 June 2021 9:00 am

Richard Bratby talks to one of Britain’s most successful impresarios about his promoter’s nose, Arts Council spinelessness and ENO madness

Portrait of the week: Freedom off, GB News on and the Queen’s tea with Biden

19 June 2021 9:00 am

Home The lifting of coronavirus restrictions was delayed from 21 June until 19 July, probably. The motive was to avoid…

The luxury of being pro-lockdown

19 June 2021 9:00 am

I’ve just written an essay for the People’s Lockdown Inquiry, a new collaboration between Buckingham University, the Institute of Ideas…

Covid has warped our collective attitude to death

19 June 2021 9:00 am

Covid or no Covid, we’re all going to snuff it

The biggest danger to Boris comes from the enemies within

19 June 2021 9:00 am

Boris Johnson’s predecessor was destroyed by her inability to meet deadlines. Theresa May extended the Brexit transition period so many…

A nicer side of Nero

19 June 2021 9:00 am

New York I haven’t felt such shirt-dripping, mind-clogging wet heat since Saigon back in 1971. The Bagel is a steam…

Does ‘Johnson’s law’ explain why people won’t work from home?

18 June 2021 9:22 pm

Even after the one metre rule and the limits on numbers are removed on July 19th, we will not be…

Delay, data and the need for transparency

18 June 2021 1:20 am

Boris Johnson delayed 21 June, he said, because the data did not merit a full reopening. The specific data government…

Brexit, lockdown and the fracturing of British politics

17 June 2021 8:45 am

Is our society becoming less tolerant and more viscerally tribal? Or is our politics provoking people into committing more angry…

Lockdown delay is a price worth paying

16 June 2021 10:01 pm

For the first time during this pandemic, I think we should delay lifting restrictions. Looking at the latest data, it…

Covid and the difficulty with ‘following the science’

16 June 2021 8:35 am

Did anyone fancy being in Boris Johnson’s shoes before he made the decision to delay the full lifting of Covid…

Is furlough holding back the jobs market?

15 June 2021 9:51 pm

The latest employment figures, published this morning, confirm a remarkable aspect of the Covid pandemic: that it appears to have…

The cost of delaying 'freedom day'

15 June 2021 3:30 pm

When Boris Johnson announced that unlocking would be guided by ‘data not dates’ he handed detractors ample scope for derision…

Boris Johnson delays the end of lockdown

15 June 2021 9:01 am

Boris Johnson has this evening confirmed that he will delay the lifting of all Covid restrictions by four weeks to…

Speaker blasts Boris again over lockdown announcement

15 June 2021 7:10 am

The government has just suffered a further verbal drubbing for the way it announced it would be delaying the roadmap…

The lockdown delay has triggered a constitutional crisis

15 June 2021 1:17 am

It is not the Battle of Marston Moor, but it strikes me that we are now in something of a…

What Tory MPs fear most about a lockdown delay

15 June 2021 12:37 am

As Boris Johnson prepares to announce a four-week delay to the final stage out of lockdown, he faces a mixed reaction.…

The third wave: it’s here – but it shouldn’t delay our reopening

12 June 2021 9:00 am

It’s here – but it shouldn’t delay our reopening

Portrait of the week: Pub staff shortages, a baby called Lilibet and a slap in the face for Macron

12 June 2021 9:00 am

Home The government pondered delaying the end of coronavirus restrictions on 21 June. But Chris Hopson, the chief executive of…