coronavirus
The danger of vaccine passports for education
In one sense vaccines are the perfect example of the ‘greater good’. Every citizen bears a tiny risk to protect…
The Lancet, China and the origins of coronavirus
Right from its first issue in 1823, the Lancet was more than just an ordinary medical journal. Its founding editor,…
Emmanuel Macron’s dangerous infantilisation of the French
From St Tropez to La Rochelle to Deauville, there is a familiar sight this summer in many of France’s most…
Party time: the price of freedom
Party time depends on following the party line
Portrait of the week: Covid in cabinet, pingdemic pandemonium and Ben & Jerry’s boycott
Home On the eve of the day that most coronavirus restrictions were to be lifted, the Prime Minister and Chancellor…
Sajid Javid: My isolation diary
You always remember when a prime minister calls you to ask you to take on a new role, and you…
Now what? The government’s Covid optimism is fading fast
The government’s Covid optimism is fading fast
Could the third wave be running out of steam?
Will we get to 100,000 new Covid infections a day, as Sajid Javid has suggested, or even to 200,000 a…
The depressing spectacle of ‘freedom day’
It was billed as ‘freedom day’. Yet few people, it seems, either want to enjoy their new-found freedom or are…
How ‘freedom day’ became ‘chaos day’
Welcome to ‘freedom day’, or more properly ‘chaos day’ – with businesses warning they can’t operate because too many employees…
Macron’s vaccine passports are a betrayal of French values
What a celebration of diversity I witnessed in Paris on Saturday as tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the…
Has Boris got cold feet over ‘freedom day’?
A very strange ‘freedom day’ greets us on Monday. Legally, almost all restrictions will be lifted. But practically, ministers are…
Portrait of the week: Mixed messages on masks, protests in Cuba and good news for pandas
Home England expects everyone to wear masks in crowded places, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said in a televised address,…
Why Israel is rolling-out third vaccine doses
It’s time to think about your third Covid vaccine dose. That might sound like a premature suggestion when many people…
Sajid Javid says restrictions could return after ‘freedom day’
In another sign of the government’s more cautious approach to the July 19 unlocking, Sajid Javid has just told the…
Are ministers prepared for ‘freedom day’?
Is the government having a wobble over ‘Freedom Day’ on 19 July? Well, for one thing you won’t hear ministers…
The long list of problems waiting for the Tories after 19 July
The long-awaited easing of restrictions will not be the triumphant moment that many expected back in May. The Delta variant…
Portrait of the week: Masks to be dropped, John Lewis builds houses and Russia lays claim to champagne
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said that if a review of coronavirus restrictions on 12 July allowed, then on…
Boris Johnson must hold his nerve over lifting restrictions
A charge repeatedly made against Boris Johnson over the past 16 months is that he has ‘ignored scientific advice’. But…
Follow the science – it's time to unlock
Shortly before Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer were slugging it out in PMQs — debating whether the mass-lifting of restrictions…
What is the purpose of test and trace?
At yesterday’s press conference, Boris Johnson announced that his government was shelving plans for domestic ‘Covid certificates’ (i.e. vaccine passports),…
Portrait of the week: Hancock out, Javid in and MoD papers found at a bus stop
Home A lively game of hunt the issue followed the resignation of Matt Hancock as Secretary of State for Health…
My problem with the Euros
I’m struggling to work up much enthusiasm about England’s progress in the Euros. I know, I know, Tuesday night’s victory…
It’s time to repair the damage done to the Covid generation’s education
Aswitch of personnel at the Department of Health this week has brought a welcome change in the government’s tone. No…
How many people are self-isolating when they’re told to?
Isolated cases Large numbers of people are still being ordered to self-isolate in spite of having been vaccinated — 137,560…
