covid
Sage memo makes the case for lockdown
On Monday, Covid restrictions were rejected after the cabinet debated the issue robustly for the first time since the pandemic…
Should businesses receive more Covid support?
As government considers whether to lock us down once again, should it put economic support for businesses affected back on…
It’s time to end the era of forced lockdown restrictions
Monday’s Cabinet meeting held over Zoom was a fraught affair by the sounds of it. Michael Gove and Sajid Javid…
Is Omicron now falling in South Africa?
Man makes Covid predictionsand God laughs. Yet with the stakes this high in Britain, every bit of real-world data is…
My Twitter conversation with the chairman of the Sage Covid modelling committee
The latest Sage papers have been published , envisaging anything from 200 to 6,000 deaths a day from Omicron depending on how…
Pubs and restaurants are being decimated by Covid uncertainty
The run up to Christmas is normally a merry time for the hospitality industry. Our nation’s restaurants, pubs and bars…
Omicron is now Britain’s dominant Covid strain
If you test positive for Covid now in Britain, the odds are that it’s Omicron: it’s now the dominant strain…
Macron’s British travel ban is entirely political
Emmanuel Macron subjected France to a two-hour primetime television interview on Wednesday evening which must have been a pre-Christmas treat…
Why Omicron may overwhelm our health service
What we know from the imperfect data we have is that Omicron is vastly more infectious but less virulent than…
Boris is in deep trouble
This evening feels eerily familiar to anyone who remembers the meaningful votes of Theresa May’s premiership. The Tory rebellion on…
Labour is the real winner of tonight's vote
Sajid Javid found himself wading through treacle as he tried to make the case for the government’s ‘Plan B’ to…
The ethics of the Omicron travel ban
The Omicron variant had not even been named when the government’s reflexes sprung into almost involuntary reaction last month, and…
Vaccine passports may prove a pointless distraction from Omicron
Sajid Javid ditched vaccine passports when he became Health Secretary but he now has to bring them in again, albeit…
Why I prefer to rely on natural immunity
‘Did you hear it?’ said a friend of mine, red-faced with the flush of a piece of news she couldn’t…
Should we be scared of the Omicron variant?
Why is the government so scared of the Omicron variant? So far, most of the evidence we have for transmissibility…
Is this the real reason Boris introduced Covid restrictions?
If a day is a long time in politics, 36 hours is a lifetime with this government. On Tuesday morning,…
Punishing the unvaccinated threatens everyone's liberty
How should we treat the unvaccinated? Should we stop them from participating in normal life? Castigate them in the media?…
Boris takes his colleagues for fools
Is Boris Johnson really deploying a ‘diversionary tactic’ in announcing vaccine passports on the day he has had to perform…
What’s the evidence for England’s vaccine passports?
The Prime Minister has just announced Plan B. Working from home has been all but mandated and large venues —…
Boris throws his staff under the bus
What possible lines of defence could the Prime Minister come up with after the leaking of footage showing his Downing…
Watch: No. 10 staff joking about Downing Street Christmas party
Downing Street have spent the week trying to play down reports of a secret No. 10 party last Christmas when the rest of…
Why the No. 10 Christmas 'party' story matters
It’s crime week for the government — with Boris Johnson and his ministers set to unveil a range of measures…
Omicron: cause for hope?
It will be weeks before we know just how worried we should be about Omicron — but the first indications seem…
Unless Omicron changes everything, Covid is on the way out
There are good reasons to be concerned about the Omicron variant. For starters, this strain has 50 mutations, twice as…
Boris's booster bet
Boris Johnson is relying heavily on the booster programme to protect Britain from any additional threat posed by the Omicron…