Inside the Omicron fear factory

21 December 2021 2:09 am

In March 2020, a profile of the typical Covid victim emerged from Italy. The average decedent was eighty years old, with approximately three comorbidities such as heart disease, obesity or…

Four times Boris said this Christmas would be better than last

21 December 2021 1:40 am

‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…’ Or it certainly was until Omicron intervened. For the latest Covid variant has…

Why is Quidditch snitching on JK Rowling over trans rights?

21 December 2021 12:46 am

To those of us who know Quidditch from the fantasy world of the Harry Potter books, the idea of grown-ups…

Five lockdown questions the cabinet must ask

21 December 2021 12:15 am

The cabinet will meet this afternoon, with more restrictions and even a new lockdown on the agenda. But have ministers…

Build Back Better was doomed from the start

20 December 2021 7:01 am

Joe Manchin was never going to vote for Build Back Better. Now that he’s declared himself a “no” and all…

No, Steve Baker, voters don’t want Thatcher again

20 December 2021 5:09 am

Steve Baker’s decision to boot Nadine Dorries out of a group chat of Conservative MPs has captured the attention of…

Bandt and the choofing Greens are at it again

20 December 2021 4:00 am

Everything the Australian Greens do starts well enough, before descending into farce. Caring for the environment ends with farmers having…

Sajid Javid: More restrictions cannot be ruled out before Christmas

19 December 2021 11:22 pm

Sajid Javid – More restrictions cannot be ruled out before Christmas With Sunday’s interview shows enjoying their last outing of…

Eastern Europe is paying for the EU’s climate revolution

19 December 2021 9:00 pm

Europe’s energy crisis shows little sign of abating. After Germany this week withheld approval for the Nord Stream 2 gas…

How the BBC lost its way on Covid

19 December 2021 8:00 pm

I have been a BBC journalist for many years, and in that time I have been committed to impartiality and…

Can Kim Jong-un survive for another ten years?

19 December 2021 7:00 pm

Ten years ago today, at noon on 19 December 2011, the veteran newsreader and ‘Pink Lady’ Ri Chun-hee, donned an…

Don’t underestimate the Omicron variant

19 December 2021 6:00 pm

As the Omicron variant makes its way through the population of the UK, the Chief Medical Officer’s warning that we…

A different take on the Jesus story

19 December 2021 12:00 pm

My favourite Christmas story … stop me if you’ve heard it. According to the late Sydney theologian Dr Barbara Thiering’s…

Diary of an unvaccinated person

19 December 2021 9:00 am

I’ll let you in on a secret, I haven’t taken the Covid vaccination. For a lot of people that doesn’t…

Brexiteers will sorely miss Lord Frost

19 December 2021 8:39 am

Lord Frost’s resignation is bad news for Boris Johnson, though that’s a side matter. Prime ministers come and go, what…

Lord Frost’s resignation is a brutal blow to Boris Johnson

19 December 2021 7:15 am

Boris Johnson’s premiership has been plunged into further crisis tonight by the resignation of the Brexit minister Lord Frost. Frost…

Lord Frost: Britain needs low taxes and no vaccine passports

19 December 2021 7:12 am

Lord Frost, Boris Johnson’s Brexit minister and one of his closest allies, has resigned in protest at the ‘direction’ of the government.…

My Twitter conversation with the chairman of the Sage Covid modelling committee

19 December 2021 7:03 am

The latest Sage papers have been published , envisaging anything from 200 to 6,000 deaths a day from Omicron depending on how…

Is Omicron really no less severe? A look at South Africa’s data

18 December 2021 9:50 pm

It’s an open secret that ministers are nervous about advice from Sage, given its track record in exaggerating the risk…

Pubs and restaurants are being decimated by Covid uncertainty

18 December 2021 8:00 pm

The run up to Christmas is normally a merry time for the hospitality industry. Our nation’s restaurants, pubs and bars…

Boris won’t change. Why should he?

18 December 2021 7:00 pm

Boris Johnson is not short of troubles, or advice. Most of that advice, from colleagues and commentators alike, comes down…

Billie Eilish is right about our porn-sick society

18 December 2021 6:00 pm

You could have knocked me down with a snowflake when Billie Eilish slammed pornography on the Howard Stern Show this…

Bond, James Bond: they/them/ze/zir

18 December 2021 4:00 pm

The progressive left’s crusade to normalise pathology shows no sign of slowing down, with calls for the next James Bond…

The inevitability of Kamala Harris

18 December 2021 4:00 pm

I come neither to bury Kamala nor to praise her. Commentary on her vice presidency is polarized. Harris’s well-known praise…

Update on injunction against WA Police vaccine mandate

18 December 2021 12:00 pm

NOTE: Just before this piece was due to go to print, a glimmer of hope emerged after a directions hearing…