The Week
Diary
Yet another east European tragedy is unfolding before our eyes. We have watched this movie for more than 80 years.…
A figure of shame or pity
Virginia Giuffre may well be a heroine among all those abused in their youth. Ancient reactions compare interestingly with ours.…
Barometer
Blow by blow Did Storm Eunice really set a new record for wind speed in England? A 122 mph gust…
Liberty restored
Shortly after Covid emerged, our civil liberties were suspended. The government took control of when and for how long we…
Live and learn
German archaeologists have found ancient Egyptian tablets covered in repetitive writing exercises and ask — were they pupil punishments? But…
Royal standards
Prince Andrew’s decision to settle his case with Virginia Giuffre means he will be spared the potentially humiliating ordeal of…
Barometer
Facing the music Police in New Zealand played Barry Manilow records to truck drivers in an attempt to persuade them…
Letters
A health-care disaster Sir: Kate Andrews’s piece on who really controls the NHS (‘Waiting game’, 12 February) gives us a…
Diary
Foreign trips can offer a sense of perspective. Heading to Saudi Arabia, I prepare for my first stint of diplomacy.…
Portrait of the week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, made ready for a Russian invasion of Ukraine by cutting short a planned visit…
Diary
‘The mob’s going to want a chicken to kill and they won’t care much who it is,’ wrote John Steinbeck.…
Why Putin wins
Did Vladimir Putin ever intend to invade Ukraine? Or were his troop manoeuvres just a game — another test of…
Letters
Jesus wept Sir: Sam Dunning’s brilliant exposure of the corrupting links between Jesus College, Cambridge and the Chinese Communist party…
Portrait of the week
Home In a message for the 70th anniversary of her accession, the Queen said it was her sincere wish that…
Barometer
No snow The pistes are covered with artificial snow and the hillsides are bare. Are the Winter Olympics a victim…
Healthy profit
Yet again ‘doctors’ with no qualifications have been found advertising dodgy but expensive products and treatments, in this case, injections…
Diary
A princess of Hanover wrote in her diary: ‘My 30th birthday. There must be some mistake.’ Substitute 30th for 80th…
What’s the point of Boris?
The anger against the Prime Minister for failing to observe the rules which he imposed upon the rest of us…
Words of advice
The Prime Minister has been having some trouble with his inner circle of advisers. Tacitus supplies fine examples of how…
Barometer
Borderland Few countries can have passed through as many kingdoms and empires as Ukraine — the ‘borderlands’. These are just…
Letters
Naysayers needed Sir: I was struck by James Forsyth’s observation that in 10 Downing Street, ‘hard truths and hard choices…
Portrait of the week
Home Sue Gray, the second permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office, in a 12-page ‘update’ on her investigation into 16…
Letters
Russia’s star Sir: Wolfgang Münchau is surely right to highlight the risk posed to European peace and stability by Germany’s…
How Boris escapes
When Omicron struck, Britain was already the most boosted country in Europe. Our programme was so advanced that 80 per…
Barometer
Prime numbers As of 29 January Boris Johnson will have been Prime Minister for two years and 190 days. Currently…
