coronavirus
A kind of magic
You have to admire the spirit of the organisers of last weekend’s One World: Together at Home concert. To put…
‘I think I’ve found a real paradise’
Martin Gayford talks to David Hockney about life in the Norman countryside under quarantine, how the iPad is better than paint and brush, and why he is not a communist
Diary
The vocabulary of Brexit has passed into oblivion. Now there’s fresh work to be done. We all know about ‘flattening…
The shape of the future
Could the Covid crisis be an economic opportunity for Brexit Britain?
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…
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…
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…
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…
China is using coronavirus to crack down on Hong Kong
One thing’s for sure: when the history of Covid-19 is written, we’re going to need a few chapters on those…
Will American exceptionalism survive the pandemic?
This article is in The Spectator’s May 2020 US edition. Subscribe here to get yours. Walpole, Massachusetts What does a writer do…
Could the Covid crash spark another Arab Spring?
They said we were going to uncouple from the Middle East. Barack Obama, they said, was going to pivot to…
The ‘Protect the NHS’ message has become dangerously effective
There was an interesting moment at the government’s daily Covid-19 press briefing a couple of weeks ago. Angela McLean, the…
The fatality rate of our CCP virus overreaction
This article is in The Spectator’s May 2020 US edition. Subscribe here to get yours. I think it was Sir Charles Dilke…
Who is in charge of the government?
Boris Johnson is still officially recuperating from coronavirus at Chequers and is ‘not doing government work’, according to No. 10.…
Why ministers are reluctant to change face mask guidance
‘Will the public be asked to wear face masks in public?’ This is a topic of debate today for the…
How we can overcome Britain’s problem with scientific illiteracy
It occurs to me that one of the most important lessons we’ve learnt so far during this time of plague…
The price of oil just hit $0 a barrel. What’s going on?
If you’ve ever wanted to own a barrel of oil, today might be your lucky day – for the first…
Time to crush China’s Arctic influence
Eyes are opening to the evil of the authoritarian Chinese regime that represses its people, genocides entire cultures, and influences…
Bailing out Richard Branson comes with a big price
Richard Branson is asking British taxpayers – a club he resigned from when he moved his affairs to the lax…
What if a virus were ever used as a WMD?
This article is in The Spectator’s May 2020 US edition. Subscribe here to get yours. Faced with the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump…
‘You are endangering the world’: German tabloid goes to war with China
Could China have done more to prevent the coronavirus pandemic? One tabloid editor in Germany certainly thinks so and an extraordinary…
Massachusetts study finds a third of sample have COVID-19 antibodies
Last week I reported here a Stanford University study which found that infection with SARS-CoV-2 — the virus which causes COVID-19…
Will the coronavirus succeed where Russiagate and Ukrainegate failed?
Back on March 12, I noted in this space that one of the most potent effects of our latest Chinese…
