The pharma giant that will show us the future of capitalism
Keep your eye on GlaxoSmithKline. The UK-based multinational drug-maker represents the future, both as a mass-producer of the vaccines that…
The Spectator’s notes
Although I once edited this paper, and have written for it for almost 40 years, I did not know that…
An outbreak of bad manners
It all started on the day after the Brexit referendum. People who do not get the result they voted for…
An infectious uncertainty
I had thought that actually getting the coronavirus would bring clarity — that there would be some satisfaction in meeting…
Covers that almost were
Sometimes The Spectator goes to press very shortly after election results have been announced. In those instances, Morten Morland, our…
Shock and gore
There were plenty of TV shows around this week designed to cheer us up. Sky Atlantic’s Gangs of London, however,…
I love my strange, disagreeable tribe
It’s one way to keep in touch with people. Each morning, somewhere between the first coffee of the day and…
The difficult balance of public vs political agony
Fear is the politician’s friend. When terror grips the public, an opportunity arises for those in power to step forward…
Would Churchill have worn a face mask?
The problem with face masks is cutting an opening of the right size to accommodate a cigarette, without the hole…
Beards
Viewers of the BBC News channel, now that Zoom shows talking heads in their own homes, want before anything to…
The viral transmission rate will be key to relaxing the lockdown
The next big event in the saga (I choose my words carefully) of our Covid-19 lockdown is the preliminary results…
Why Joe Biden’s America loves a lockdown
COVID-19, the Wuhan virus, is an epidemiological scourge — but it’s also a clarifying catalyst for American politics. The virus’s…
Could this antibody test offer a route out of lockdown?
Finally, the government is to start antibody tests to see how prevalent infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus – which causes…
Was this the moment my father won his fight against coronavirus?
‘Well that’s obviously an azalea. Give me a harder one.’ I’m on one of my daily rehab walks around our…
Privacy fears over the corona app? We lost our privacy long ago
All this carry-on about the corona app is way too late. Worrying about our privacy? We lost that a while…
Our deep thinking corona crusaders – and others
In the fight against coronavirus, it is disconcerting to have people barracking for the virus. The latest cheer-leader for the…
Castle falls
“Thank God.” I’m sure that is what Israel Folau would like to Tweet right now. The Chief Executive Officer of…
Australia and China: where to after this?
Coronavirus has reinvigorated discussions around the Sino-Australian relationship. Australia’s dependence on China highlights how interconnected we are on trade and…
School closures hurt disadvantaged families more
Schools are one of the most complex parts of the policy response to coronavirus. Policymakers seemingly have to navigate the…
Did Australia’s China-scepticism prepare it for Covid-19?
As Britain struggles through the eye of the coronavirus storm, it is difficult not to cast our eyes across the…
Squabbling scientists have shocked ministers
The government’s response to criticism of its approach to this pandemic is that it has been ‘guided by the science’…
