The Week
Britain is booming – despite Brexit
After the vote for Brexit, it was often said that our departure from the EU was most likely to harm…
Portrait of the week: Cabinet reshuffle, another royal divorce and coronavirus hits iPhones
Home The Budget, still scheduled for 11 March, had to be rewritten after Rishi Sunak was made Chancellor of the…
Julian Smith: Despite being sacked, it has been a weirdly good week
A doctor will tell you heart attacks may appear to come out of the blue, but if you look carefully,…
Who actually goes on a cruise?
Breeding controversy A Downing Street aide, believed to have been recruited as a result of Dominic Cummings’s advert for ‘weirdos…
What Boris has in common with Roman emperor Augustus
The PM was filmed introducing his new cabinet by getting them to answer in unison how many hospitals, how many…
Letters: How to make a cup of tea
No defence Sir: Jon Stone (Letters, 15 February) recalls the horrors and miseries of being subjected to bombing from the…
Borrow-and-spend Boris risks repeating Gordon Brown’s mistakes
The nature of the Johnson government is still not clear, but has become more so with the announcement this week…
Portrait of the week: Britain rules on coronavirus, HS2 is approved and Bernie Sanders powers ahead
Home The Department of Health classified the novel coronavirus (named by the World Health Organization Covid-19) as a ‘serious and imminent…
Susan Hill: The brilliance of the NHS cancer service
Exactly 50 years ago I drove, for the first visit of many, across country to Aldeburgh in Suffolk, following the…
The brands regretting calling themselves ‘Corona’
Going viral A few of the businesses which chose ‘Corona’ as a brand name and now have a bit of…
Ancient Athens would have been horrified by Trump’s impeachment
An impeachment trial is overseen by Congress and Senate, who both make the law and (in this case) sit in…
Letters: Britain can be zero carbon – but only by becoming poorer
A green and poor land? Sir: Your editorial (8 February) is a timely warning about what the government’s headlong drive…
Boris must have the courage to spell out the true cost of ‘net zero’
After being sacked as the chairman of the COP26, the UN climate conference which is to take place in Glasgow…
Portrait of the week: Britain leaves the EU, coronavirus evacuations and a great day for Trump
Home The United Kingdom quietly left the European Union at 11 p.m. GMT on 31 January. Boris Johnson, the Prime…
Sarah Sands: I never wanted to climb the BBC career ladder
After I took the editor’s job at Today on Radio 4 nearly three years ago I had to answer to…
Is the Wuhan coronavirus really that deadly?
Mumbo jumbo The Prime Minister called opposition to imports of US-produced food ‘mumbo jumbo’. The expression was introduced to the…
The ancients would have thought Boris was deluded
The gloom that envelopes the Labour party stands in strong contrast to the confidence and hope that the Prime Minister…
Objects of desire
‘Homosexuality without the cant’, by Simon Raven, 14 June 1968: ‘All virile societies,’ writes Mary McCarthy à propos the Florentines,…
Letters: Innovation has been stifled in Britain for too long
The chance to fail Sir: Matt Ridley’s article ‘Risky business’ (1 February) offers a variety of reasons why innovation has been…
Britain is taking on a new role – as the European Union’s strongest ally
The moment of Britain’s departure from the EU was always likely to be an anticlimax, both for those who expect…
Portrait of the week: Withdrawal Agreement signed, Huawei allowed in – and coronavirus spreads
Home Using a Parker fountain pen (a brand now made in Nantes), Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, signed the EU…
Rory Stewart: How will Brexit be remembered when my son gets to my age?
I still live in the same house, in London, in which I lived as a baby. I walk my five-year-old…
Who leads the global 5G market?
In the beginning How did Britain mark its entry into the European Economic Community on 1 January 1973? There were no…
Lord Heseltine could launch a Farage-style fight-back
Lord Heseltine’s electrifying hair once whipped the party faithful into paroxysms of euphoria. But since today he sees his hopes…
Letters: Cats are clearly right-wing
Enemies on the left Sir: James Forsyth’s article ‘Labour must change to win’ (25 January) describes how little appetite the…
