coronavirus
The beast in the east
China appears not to have defeated Covid after all
Should we worry about the BA.2 Omicron variant?
When the Omicron variant (now categorised as BA.1) swept across the world at the end of last year it was…
Life must go on
Well, at least Covid is over. No sooner had Vladimir Putin’s tanks rolled into Ukraine than the UK’s Covid advisory…
Covid is rising again. Should we worry?
For some time now, Covid has been rising in Scotland – there are now more Scots in hospital with Covid…
Sage admits its models were ‘at variance to reality’. But why?
The Sage committee was set up as a pool of experts on tap to advise government. During the pandemic, it mutated…
The return of Actual Badness
In the spring of 2020, I advanced an abnormally hopeful proposition: that one blessing that might arise from a pandemic…
Portrait of the week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, announced, in the House of Commons, sanctions against Russia after its ‘renewed invasion’ of…
Trudeau’s tyranny
Early in the corona era the historian David Starkey gave some thoughts on Covid. ‘We’ve got a Chinese virus,’ he…
Breathe easy
How respiratory viruses evolve to become milder
Liberty restored
Shortly after Covid emerged, our civil liberties were suspended. The government took control of when and for how long we…
Ending restrictions won’t save Boris
Boris Johnson certainly managed to rally the troops on their first day back from recess this afternoon as he told…
Barometer
Facing the music Police in New Zealand played Barry Manilow records to truck drivers in an attempt to persuade them…
Portrait of the week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, made ready for a Russian invasion of Ukraine by cutting short a planned visit…
What is Boris’s partygate defence?
The presumption of many MPs — and maybe many of you — is that the Met is bound to issue…
Barometer
No snow The pistes are covered with artificial snow and the hillsides are bare. Are the Winter Olympics a victim…
Can Macron really lecture Putin about democracy?
A penny for the thoughts of Vladimir Putin on Monday as he stared at Emmanuel Macron from the end of…
Britain’s unethical Covid messaging must never be repeated
Over the last two years – under the guise of a Covid-19 communications strategy – the British people have faced…
Keep on trucking
Canada’s Covid protestors have a point
Rishi has a horrible task ahead
Whether Rishi Sunak is prime minister or still chancellor this spring, fate is handing him a poisoned chalice. Looking back,…
An Olympic task
How China got stuck in a zero-Covid trap
Two years on, what’s the evidence for lockdown?
Did lockdowns save lives? We will never have a definitive answer to this vital question because it was impossible to…
Can the Czech Republic challenge Europe’s vaccine orthodoxy?
The Omicron wave has left European counties standing at a crossroads this year. Despite the relative mildness of Omicron compared…
How Boris escapes
When Omicron struck, Britain was already the most boosted country in Europe. Our programme was so advanced that 80 per…
Portrait of the week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, told the Commons that Britain was prepared to send troops to protect Nato allies…
Fortress New Zealand
Faith in ‘Saint Jacinda’ is starting to fade
