How many Covid hospitalisations are caused by Covid?
How many people have been taken into hospital and are dying with Covid, and how many have been admitted to…
Don’t fall for Rishi Sunak’s ‘Britcoin’
Do we need an officially-sanctioned, government-backed crypto-currency underwritten by sterling – a ‘Britcoin’ – as Rishi Sunak is said to…
We need to act now to block Britain’s social credit system
I have to admit that I didn’t quite get it right when, 12 days ago, I wrote: ‘There is a…
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…
Could the third wave be running out of steam?
Will we get to 100,000 new Covid infections a day, as Sajid Javid has suggested, or even to 200,000 a…
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…
Is climate change to blame for Germany’s flooding?
Greta Thunberg has declared the floods in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands to be the product of man-made climate change,…
A minimum corporation tax is nothing to celebrate
So is this what the new era of global co-operation looks like? The EU has agreed to delay the introduction…
Isn’t it time social media cracked down on racism?
No sooner had Bukayo Saka’s penalty kick thudded into the gloves of the Italian goalkeeper than you could see it…
Should we be mixing AstraZeneca and Pfizer shots?
To date, the Covid vaccination programme in Britain has involved two doses of one of three vaccines – AstraZeneca, Pfizer…
How much longer can the Treasury rig the housing market?
The past 15 months have produced a bizarre economic paradox. In 2020, the economy shrank at the fastest rate recorded…
Are PCR tests the best way to track Covid?
Throughout the pandemic doubts have been expressed about the reliability of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests which have been…
Why Warwick’s Covid modelling doesn’t add up
This week began with more frightening graphs from SPI-M, the government’s scientific modelling committee. A team at Warwick University calculated…
Rishi Sunak and the coming Tory battle over climate change
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, isn’t normally given to waffle, which makes his maiden appearance on GB News all the more…
Is inflation about to bite?
The signs were there for all to see — pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and so on all pushing up their prices. Businesses…
Covid and the difficulty with ‘following the science’
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?
The latest employment figures, published this morning, confirm a remarkable aspect of the Covid pandemic: that it appears to have…
Will the G7 tax deal survive?
What are the chances of the G7’s agreement on a minimum rate of corporation tax actually coming into effect? While…
Should we mix Pfizer and AstraZeneca Covid jabs?
Should the NHS be mixing vaccines for better effect, or at least offering people who have had one dose of…
Does the Indian variant increase the risk of hospitalisation?
Is the Indian variant really more like to land you in hospital? That is the claim being widely reported this…
Why the vaccines should prevent a deadly third wave
Among the scientists and medics calling this week for caution in the government’s reopening of the economy was Dr Lisa…
Has Covid accelerated the cashless society?
Time is, I fear, running out. Running out, that is, to avoid handing to a small number of multinational corporations…
Shot to pieces
The many failures of China’s vaccine programme
Biden’s tax plan spells bad news for Ireland
Biden’s America, of course, is all about re-engaging with the world after four years of isolationism. But if you are…
Covid deaths in context
What would have been your overall chances of dying in the first 19 weeks of 2021 compared with recent years?…
