coronavirus
Barometer
Worth a shot? How worried should we be about people refusing to have a Covid-19 vaccine if one is developed?…
Immune system regulation could be the key to fighting Covid
Over the last few months, the management of severe Covid-19 cases has effectively been turned on its head. At first,…
How Britain can tame China
Chinese leaders love to use the phrase ‘win-win’, but they actually hope to win twice and leave other nations in…
Is Trump toning himself down for re-election?
The last time a U.S. President lost re-election, the year was 1992 and the victim was George H.W. Bush. President…
Europe’s coronavirus rescue fund is dead on arrival
Just imagine what would happen if real money was at stake. Over the last four days, the leaders of the…
What we don’t (yet) know about the Oxford vaccine
How excited should we be about the latest news of the Oxford vaccine? At least this time – in contrast…
The politics of mask-wearing
We are enjoined by certain experts to wear face masks while having sexual intercourse. No change there, then, for me.…
Net effect
Let’s face it. Theatre via the internet is barely theatre. It takes a huge amount of creativity and inventiveness to…
Corona-gardening
The American diet was probably at its healthiest in the second world war. Fearing interruption to supply chains, Washington launched…
The mask slips
When Michael Gove delivered the Ditchley Annual Lecture last month he spoke about why citizens feel that the political system…
Portrait of the Week
Home New regulations would compel people to wear a face covering in shops in England from 24 July on pain…
In Los Angeles, school’s out…forever?
Americans have mixed feelings about opening schools this fall. Some — like the Trump administration’s Department of Education — want…
Andrew Cuomo’s Midsommar
Andrew Cuomo has turned his governor’s office into Pee-Wee’s pandemic playhouse. He has giant cotton swabs and foam mountains that…
Will making face masks compulsory help us get back to normal?
The government will announce today that from 24 July face coverings will be mandatory in shops and supermarkets. Those who…
Coronavirus has exposed the EU’s greatest flaw
Politics begins and ends with sovereignty: the duty and right to make the legitimate final decision. We have seen this…
No one loves a despot
Displaying the pristine neutrality that has made her such a popular figure, Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis apparently tweeted the following last…
How the Spanish cover their faces, or don’t
We self-critical British should never forget that other nations are pretty crazy too. I write this from Andalusia, Spain; and…
Can the young avoid the Covid crash?
Coronavirus is deadlier for the old than the young. But for the young, it is economically devastating. A third of…
Letter from Texas
Austin My first Independence Day in the US for many years. Usually I’d be in Paris avoiding Texas heat. My…
Cricket balls
The Prime Minister recently blamed the delay in the resumption of amateur cricket on the ball itself, calling it ‘a…
Portrait of the week
Home Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced measures intended to stimulate the economy. Under a £111 million scheme,…
The Covid conundrum
How strong was the scientific advice behind the lockdown?
Keir Starmer needs to find his own Guilty Men
This is a week of bittersweet anniversaries for the Labour party. It is now 72 years since Clement Attlee’s government…
The pandemic’s invisible victims
I sometimes pick up some food at Tesco for an 86-year-old pensioner who lives a few streets over. At the…
Going underground
Leaf Arbuthnot and Igor Toronyi-Lalic on the new cultural rebels
