Coffee House Shots

Coffee House Shots

Is the UK really the worst hit country in Europe?

The British coronavirus death toll exceeds 30,000, which is the worst in Europe. But is it too soon to tell whether the UK has really been the worst hit on the continent?

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Could a return to normality come before a vaccine?

The Prime Minister will say today that ‘the route back to full normality requires a vaccine’. But given that most estimates put this at a year or two away (if possible at all), does that mean we will be under lockdown until then?

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Is a Brexit extension inevitable?

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How Matt Hancock hit his target

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How the ‘R’ number dictates Boris’s exit strategy

In the Prime Minister’s first press conference since coming back to work, it was all about the ‘R’ number. On the podcast, Cindy, James, and Katy discuss just what this number means for our way out of the lockdown.

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What is Labour’s strategy of constructive opposition?

As Keir Starmer settles into his second week as Labour leader, he claims to be scrutinising the government in a constructive way. At today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, we saw a little bit of what that looks like.

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Will coronavirus make politicians fix social care?

Social care has always been a difficult issue for incumbent governments in recent years. The coronavirus pandemic brings this to the fore. As ONS figures show that more than 5,000 deaths have happened in UK care homes in April, Cindy, James, and Katy discuss what this means for future social care policy on the podcast.

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Boris Johnson’s new approach to lockdown easing

The Prime Minister has kicked off his return to Downing Street with a speech to the nation, setting out the next steps in the battle against coronavirus.

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How lockdown threatens to widen the education gap

With James Turner, CEO of the Sutton Trust, and Fraser Nelson. Presented by Katy Balls.

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Can Boris unite the Cabinet?

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

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What’s Nicola Sturgeon’s exit strategy?

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,

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What is the real impact of lockdown on the NHS?

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.

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How did Keir Starmer do in his first PMQs?

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?

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Is Matt Hancock the government’s ‘fall guy’?

Is Matt Hancock the government’s ‘fall guy’? As Katy Balls details on Coffee House, the Health Secretary’s 100,000 target has rubbed up some in government in the wrong way, with the Daily Telegraph’s front page today reporting that an insider close to No 10 has dubbed it ‘irrational’ and ‘arbitrary’. So what’s going on behind

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For how long can the government afford the furlough scheme?

Over 140,000 businesses have applied for the government’s employee furlough scheme on its first day of launch. This is a far higher uptake than those in government expected, Kate Andrews says on the podcast, so for how long can the government afford to keep it going?

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Will Boris disappoint the lockdown hawks in government?

Behind the scenes, the Cabinet is split on whether or not to lift the lockdown. The hawks such as Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, and Alok Sharma, are concerned about the economic and human costs of a sustained lockdown; the doves, such as Matt Hancock, worry that lifting the lockdown too soon risks a second wave.

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Why isn’t the UK testing at full capacity?

The government revealed today that its testing capacity is at 38,000 a day. So why, then, are less than 16,000 tests being taken each day so far? Cindy, James, and Katy also discuss the new vaccines task force, the extension of the furlough scheme, and what the latest numbers out of China mean.

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The five tests for easing the lockdown

As expected, Dominic Raab announced an extension to the lockdown today, with no clear end date set. But he did offer insight into the criteria that the government is using to judge when that time might come. Katy Balls writes about it here and she discusses them on the latest episode with James and Cindy. The

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Keir Starmer’s coronavirus gamble

Keir Starmer has written to the government to demand that they publish detailed criteria on what would be enough to lift this lockdown. It’s his first offensive as the leader of the Opposition in the current crisis, but it’s not a move that has been welcomed by all on the left. So how shrewd is his

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How much will coronavirus cripple the British economy?

Today the Office for Budget Responsibility has released a new analysis of the impact of coronavirus on the British economy. Kate Andrews writes about exactly what it says here, and joins the podcast with Katy Balls and Cindy Yu to discuss its implications.

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As lockdown continues, will this be the toughest week yet?

In today’s press conference, Patrick Vallance said that the daily death toll is likely to be even higher this week, before it starts to go down. With the government facing increasing criticism and pressure over PPE and testing, will this be the toughest week yet?

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Is the UK on track to be Europe’s worst hit country?

On the Andrew Marr Show today, Sir Jeremy Farrar, a senior scientific advisor on the government’s scientific advisory group Sage, warned that the UK is on track to become one of the worst hit countries in Europe by coronavirus. So has the British government been too slow in its response? 

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Lessons learnt from Germany’s coronavirus response

Throughout recent weeks, Germany has been held up as an example of how to tackle coronavirus. So what exactly makes its response quite so effective?

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The human cost of the coronavirus lockdown

The government is trying to find out the human cost of the coronavirus lockdown, with one model seen by ministers estimating 150,000 ‘avoidable deaths’. So could the cure to the pandemic be worse than the disease itself?

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Why the lockdown isn’t over yet

Dominic Raab confirmed in today’s press conference that the lockdown is not being lifted just yet. On the podcast, Katy and James explain why.

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Will coronavirus usher in a new Conservatism?

The Chancellor ended today’s press briefing with the words: ‘Our economic plan and the plan for charities we announced today are built on one simple idea: that we depend on each other.’ On the podcast, James explains why he thinks coronavirus is the dawn of a new kind of Conservatism.

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The decision Dominic Raab can’t make

One of the biggest decisions in the government’s approach to tackling coronavirus is when and how to lift the lockdown. But this is also one of the most divisive issues within Cabinet. With the Prime Minister not yet out of hospital, this will be one of the things that Dominic Raab can’t decide in his

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Boris Johnson admitted to intensive care

Boris Johnson was moved to intensive care on Monday night as his condition worsened. What do we know of the situation, and where does government go from here?

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Who is running the government?

With Boris Johnson currently hospitalised with no sign of release any time soon, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is the ‘designated survivor’. But at today’s press conference, he admitted he hadn’t spoken to Boris Johnson since Saturday. So who is running the government?

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Boris admitted to hospital

Tonight, the Prime Minister is admitted to hospital for tests; the Queen gives a statement to the nation; and Catherine Calderwood steps down as Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer after having been found to flout her own social distancing rules.