coronavirus
The cost of delaying ‘freedom day’
When Boris Johnson announced that unlocking would be guided by ‘data not dates’ he handed detractors ample scope for derision…
Our great blanket of doubt
Now that the government has kindly allowed us to go out again, I wonder if anyone has discovered the same…
I miss my messy, unpredictable life
If you ask people what they’ve missed out on since the pandemic, they’ll probably lament their cancelled plans. Weddings postponed,…
New wave
It’s here – but it shouldn’t delay our reopening
Dr No
The GP won’t see you now
Portrait of the Week
Home The government pondered delaying the end of coronavirus restrictions on 21 June. But Chris Hopson, the chief executive of…
Letters
Uncivil service Sir: The elephant in the room in the handling of the pandemic (‘A tragedy of errors’, 29 May)…
Open road
It seems all but impossible to convince government scientists of the wisdom of proceeding with the final lifting of Covid…
Big Tech is turning into Big Brother
The Big Tech social media giants are having to rethink their policy of censoring anybody who suggests that Covid originated…
Barometer
Game, set, chat Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open after being fined $15,000 for failing to…
The struggle to contain China
The theory that the pandemic began with a leak from a research laboratory in Wuhan is rapidly gaining currency. Since…
What the Prime Misfit got right
Should the name of Dominic Cummings ever make it into the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, there’s one Cummings phrase…
Covid deaths in context
What would have been your overall chances of dying in the first 19 weeks of 2021 compared with recent years?…
What will Cummings say?
As the government puts the final touches to its social distancing review and Foreign Office ministers ponder the best response…
Fair share
Why I’m considering cancelling my second Covid jab
Will the 21 June easing go ahead?
The roadmap out of lockdown is the signature document of Boris Johnson’s new team in No. 10. It’s intended to…
Variants and variables
The scare over the Indian variant of coronavirus this week is a taste of what to expect over the next…
Portrait of the week
Home The government made noises about having to delay the lifting of coronavirus restrictions on 21 June in some parts…
Inflation is the biggest threat to Boris
The vaccines are rolling out. Lockdown is easing, the EU has been forgotten about, and the Labour party has returned…
Top pay restraint may persist over here – but not in the US
‘Consider a temporary cut in executive salaries’ was the Confederation of British Industry’s advice to members at the start of…
Portrait of the week
Home A new complexion of British politics was revealed by the capture of Hartlepool by Jill Mortimer for the Conservatives…
‘A worse pandemic will be next’
Michael Lewis on the scientists who saw Covid coming – and were ignored
Can Boris keep his roadmap on track?
Boris Johnson’s favourite phrase since he released his roadmap out of lockdown has been ‘cautious but irreversible’. These are the…
Could the Indian variant slow unlocking?
So is the ‘irreversible’ lifting of lockdown really irreversible after all? There is a grim echo of what happened last…
Were fears of a third wave overblown?
So, the third wave is officially no more. New modelling by SPI-M, the government’s committee on modelling for pandemics, has,…
