All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
A newspaper – it would be more than 100 years before it became a magazine – calling itself a spectator of events, while consistently standing up for individual freedom, was bound to fall out with its readership from time to time. In the early years, under the editorship of its Scottish founder, Robert Rintoul, The
Feeling some pressure to write is one thing; being told what to read is quite another. On social media there seems to be a peculiar view that challenging tasks one would normally put off are suddenly expected in the face of a horrifying pandemic. ‘This is a great time to finally read Ulysses! If not
Yep, the end is in sight, courtesy of other countries organising the practicalities for the return to some sort of normal life – shopping and schooling, as in Germany. That means Britain will, like it or not, be playing catchup sooner rather than later. And when this oddly dreamlike existence is over, it’s going to
At the farm shop this morning there was a chap panic-buying a large metal and plaster flamingo. It was the last one in stock and he looked very pleased with himself. I wondered if he had a few score more at home, hoarded in the attic. And then his long-suffering wife saying, when he arrived
Six weeks ago Britain stood as a bit of an outlier among western countries in that our government seemed set to manage, rather than suppress, coronavirus. It rejected the idea that it was pursuing ‘herd immunity,’ but seemed to do just that. Now we stand out for a different reason: we are the only country
13 min listen
With James Turner, CEO of the Sutton Trust, and Fraser Nelson. Presented by Katy Balls.
I don’t particularly like the constant war analogies used about fighting coronavirus. However, when someone like Matt Hancock conjures up the Blitz spirit, urging us to pull together ‘in one gigantic national effort’, I think of that cliched question: ‘What did you do in the war, Daddy?’ Forget the sexism, what will our answer be
Microphones were installed in the House of Commons chamber in 1950. A mere 38 years passed before a parliamentary debate was broadcast on the radio. We would probably blush now to hear the arguments against our being allowed to follow in real time the intricacies of parliamentary debate. But the institutional habit of treating voters
For years, ministers from successive governments have conducted drills for all kinds of pandemic scenarios. But they never imagined a lockdown. It’s a new tool, and its implications — and side effects — have never been properly tested. So no one really thought about the effect it would have on something like domestic abuse. Before
Although the coronavirus pandemic means that we are living in uncertain times, some things remain predictable. As is the case with the current Brexit talks where Michel Barnier has bemoaned a lack of progress. As round two of the UK-EU negotiations comes to a close, the EU’s chief negotiator has voiced his disappointment – while
One consequence of this crisis is that nearly everyone in the Tory party has become a China hawk. Tomorrow sees the launch of a new China Research Group of Tory MPs. The CRG will examine Beijing’s industrial policy, its approach to technology and its foreign policy. But perhaps the most striking thing about the group
What is the true cost of Covid-19? No one knows – yet. But it’s not going to be cheap. The Treasury has revised its borrowing plans for May to July up to £180 billion, four times what it planned to raise and over £20 billion more than it planned to borrow all year. So how
Is there going to be an extension to the Brexit transitional period during which the UK must obey EU rules and keep stumping up cash for Brussels? The answer may appear obvious: David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, has unequivocally and publicly ruled it out. As he tweeted on 16 April: ‘Transition ends on December
15 min listen
The Telegraph reports this morning that Boris Johnson is planning to be back at work by Monday next week. He couldn’t come back sooner – with the Prime Minister laid up, the Cabinet has split over the question of easing the lockdown (as James Forsyth writes this week). So can Boris unite his team behind
When I heard politicians insist they were being ‘led by the science’ in their response to coronavirus, it worried me for a couple of reasons. Firstly, a scientist will happily lead you down the path they believe in, but it is rare to have only one scientific view. It would be far more accurate for
The next big event in the saga (I choose my words carefully) of our Covid-19 lockdown is the preliminary results in early May of the Office for National Statistics (ONS)/University of Oxford survey to find out who has had the virus. Officials and ministers hope this will help them to judge how far the current
Finally, the government is to start antibody tests to see how prevalent infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus – which causes Covid-19 – is among the general population. Over the next few days, testing kits are being sent to 20,000 randomly-selected households. The results will be crucial because it will inform us how effective lockdown has
‘Well that’s obviously an azalea. Give me a harder one.’ I’m on one of my daily rehab walks around our garden on Bodmin Moor with my father, Robin Hanbury-Tenison. He’s not actually with me, he’s over 20 miles away at Derriford Hospital where he has been battling coronavirus for the last six weeks, but since
15 min listen
The Scottish government’s document ‘Looking Beyond Lockdown’ tries to do what it says on the tin. But it comes at an inconvenient time for the government in Downing Street, just as it is facing accusations that it hasn’t been clear enough with the public about what is needed to end the lockdown. On the podcast,
You know what day it is? That’s right, St George’s Day, England’s own. Except he’s also patron of Georgia, Portugal, Venice, Malta, Ethiopia, Serbia (one of them) and Lithuania. Plus the Boy Scouts. And I am told, of syphilis sufferers. A happy feast day to you all. George is that excellent thing, a saint who’s
One issue the government is reluctant to discuss publicly is an exit strategy out of the lockdown. Inside 10 Downing Street, there’s a sense that it’s become a media obsession when the day-to-day focus ought to be encouraging the public to practise social distancing. During Wednesday’s press conference, chief medical officer Chris Whitty did discuss
You might think that the biggest public health and economic crisis since the second world war ought to be a moment at which government should concentrate on the here and now, forsaking grand projects the better to focus all its attention on dealing with both the coronavirus itself and its wider, monumental, impact on almost
The government’s response to criticism of its approach to this pandemic is that it has been ‘guided by the science’ throughout. When Keir Starmer accused the government of being slow to introduce a lockdown at PMQs yesterday, Dominic Raab shot back to ask whether Starmer was really saying that he knew better than the chief
The Spectator now has now reached a milestone unmatched in the global press, by becoming the first magazine to publish a 10,000th issue. To do justice to the history of the world’s oldest weekly magazine is a complex, perhaps even foolhardy task. Having spent the last three years piecing together its past, I can confirm
24 min listen
The NHS has been transformed to deal with the coronavirus threat, and it’s thus far holding up, despite fears over capacity. But what has been the effect on the rest of the health service, and its usual patients? Fraser Nelson speaks to Alastair McLellan, Editor of the Health Service Journal.
14 min listen
It’s Keir Starmer’s first Prime Minister’s Questions as Leader of the Opposition, but it also happened to be the first virtual session, where MPs dialled down the line via Zoom. So how did it go?
So far things have gone rather well in Westminster as Parliament for the first time allows MPs to ask questions over the Zoom video conferencing software. Over in Wales though, it appears Assembly members might be struggling a bit more with the technology. This afternoon, the Labour Health and Social Services Minister, Vaughan Gething, didn’t realise his mic was
That wasn’t PMQs. That was World Of Interiors. With members scattered across the country, the session took place in a sparse, hushed Chamber. Dominic Raab stood in for the Prime Minister and Keir Starmer made his first appearance as opposition leader. But this historic debut was eclipsed by MPs at home asking questions online. This
Matt Hancock has the air of a student who, having boasted about how great their final dissertation will be, has just realised that they have days to research and write the whole thing. When asked if he is going to meet his target of 100,000 daily tests for coronavirus by the end of the month,
There was an interesting moment at the government’s daily Covid-19 press briefing a couple of weeks ago. Angela McLean, the Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser, was reiterating the government’s core message. ‘What really matters’, she said, ‘is that people stay home, protect lives and save the NHS’. Then, a look of confusion, possibly even concern, took