Would Joe Biden pass a Title IX investigation?
14 min listen
Freddy Gray talks to The Spectator‘s economics correspondent Kate Andrews about the reform of sexual assault guidance for colleges and universities.
Politics
Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.
Thursday
Can we rely on a V-shaped recovery?
Can the UK expect a V-shape recovery? The Bank of England has this morning published data revealing very deep V, suggesting a complete economic recovery in a matter of months: a 25 per cent plunge in growth in Q2, followed by a 14 per cent and 11 per cent boom in Q3 and Q4. That would be the sharpest collapse in 200 years followed by the sharpest recovery in 300 years: more of a bungee jump than a V. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s an ‘illustrative scenario’ rather than a forecast. It’s not just lockdown: living with the virus takes a big economic toll The
Boris and Cummings’ words are coming back to bite
Unlike many of his critics, I do not particularly think of Dominic Cummings as a Keyser Soze figure, a devilish master of the black arts whose influence has assumed mythical dimensions. Nor do I even consider him a Rasputin-type advisor, corrupting the government and leading it astray for reasons, well, for reasons that are never quite or fully explained. So I am not vexed, far less appalled, that the prime minister’s chief advisor sometimes sits in on the meetings of advisory committees. Indeed, it might be just as surprising – and just as surely fodder for his critics – if he, or one of his colleagues, did not attend some
How do we know which lockdown measures should be lifted first?
Today, the cabinet has to decide where to go next with the lockdown – although the decision will not be announced until Sunday. Boris Johnson has talked of a ‘menu of options’ for relaxing some of the measures, but we have been warned not to expect too much. The government has also distanced itself from speculation that rules on outdoor exercise will be loosened, as well as garden centres and a few other businesses allowed to reopen. How does anyone know which lockdown measures have been effective and which haven’t? A team of epidemiologists led by Paul Hunter have attempted to do that, and their pre-published paper may well feed
Sweden and Britain are not the same
Mathias Döpfner is that still rare thing — an outspoken German. I have known him slightly for many years and admire his brain and boldness: a long time ago he even came close to buying the Telegraph Group. The 6ft 7in CEO of Axel Springer has just issued a challenge to Europe and particularly to his own country. In an article published on Sunday, he told Germany that it must stop dithering and choose. The coronavirus, he says, has brought out the great danger the Chinese Communist party presents to the West. If Germany does not lead the EU to side with the United States (and with post-Brexit Britain, Australia
This pandemic has put politics on fast-forward
‘The normal grease of politics is not there,’ bemoans one sociable cabinet minister. Certainly, the whispered conversations in corridors that make up so much of Westminster life are in abeyance during this period of social distancing. The fact that the backbenches and the cabinet have deep reservations about the government’s approach matters far less than it would in normal times. In the Zoom parliament, there is no such thing as the mood of the House. One Tory grandee pushing for a significant easing of the lockdown complains that the current arrangements ‘make it easier for No. 10 to ignore parliament and cabinet’. But contrary to appearances, politics has actually sped
The politics of book shelves
I pulled a Canadian girl in a nightclub, back when I was in my very early twenties. She seemed very nice, if somewhat quiet. We went back to her place, where I spent an agreeable night. I sneaked out just after dawn while she was still sleeping and, upon looking under the bed for my socks (I always used to take them off back then), saw every book Ayn Rand had ever written neatly stacked up, in alphabetical order. Not just The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, but Anthem and Ideal and The Virtue of Selfishness and all the rest, the ones even Rand cultists have forgotten. I scarpered for the
Why Iran meddled in Scotland’s independence referendum
The news that Iran interfered in the Scottish independence referendum is not terribly surprising. The Islamic Republic, along with Russia and China, was an early entrant into the fake news market, weaponising social media to spread misinformation. The object is to destabilise Western democracies domestically and thus weaken their ability to act on the international front. Iran’s Press TV and Russia’s RT function on the same basis — and both were noticeably enthusiastic about the possibility of Scotland voting Yes. A report commissioned by Facebook confirms Iran set up proxy accounts on social media to push nationalist messages to Scottish users in 2014, including cartoons depicting David Cameron as ‘the
Wednesday
Keir Starmer made life difficult for Boris Johnson at PMQs
17 min listen
It’s the first head to head between Boris Johnson and the new Leader of the Opposition. Unlike more normal times, Boris couldn’t rely on a large parliamentary presence of Tory MPs to booster him from the green benches. Instead, as James Forsyth explains on the podcast with Katy Balls and John Connolly, Keir Starmer actually made life a little difficult for Boris Johnson.
Keir Starmer’s big weakness is his kindness
PMQs began with a tribute from Speaker Hoyle who seemed thrilled to see Boris back at work and in Bunterish good health. ‘The whole country is delighted at his recovery,’ he added. A quick trawl thorough Twitter would disprove that optimistic claim. Sir Keir Starmer, in his debut against Boris, asked how the government could claim ‘success’ against Covid-19 when Britain is filling more coffins than any country in Europe. Boris wriggled a bit and said international comparisons were unreliable. Sir Keir held up a coloured graph showing a range of mortality-rates across the continent. ‘The government has been using slides like this,’ he said. Then he asked about the
How will Rishi Sunak roll back the furlough scheme?
Just weeks ago, Chancellor Rishi Sunak claimed that widespread use of the furloughing scheme was proof of its success. But it appears the government has over-achieved. The Treasury’s original prediction was that 10 per cent of businesses would use the salary safety net; the figure has turned out to be closer to 70 per cent. The cost for just one month of the scheme is estimated to be £8 billion, only £3 billion less than the NHS’s monthly budget. ‘We’re not talking about a cliff-edge but we have to get people back to work.’ says Matt Hancock, the health secretary. ‘We’ve got to wean off it.’ After telling ITV early
Keir Starmer made life difficult for Boris Johnson at PMQs
Keir Starmer got his first chance to take on Boris Johnson at PMQs today. There was no moment that will lead the evening news, but the new Labour leader did make Boris Johnson uncomfortable at times. When Starmer asked why the UK had moved away from contract tracing and testing in mid-March, Boris Johnson gave a long, rather rambling answer. But it is increasingly clear that this happened because the UK simply did not have the capacity to do this at the required level. Given that this is the case, the government would do well to be explicit about it In a further sign of how lacking the UK’s testing
Neil Ferguson has finally gladdened the nation
When I first heard that Neil Ferguson, the Government’s Covid adviser, had had to resign, I thought the BBC broadcast had announced that it was because he had seen his married mother during lockdown. Aw, I thought. Filial duty. He couldn’t bear to leave his poor mother at home by herself, though what’s the big deal about her being married? Anyway. Big sympathy. Then I heard it again. He had been visited, it seems by his married lover, not his mother, when he was busy lecturing the rest of the country about the importance of self isolation. In a nanosecond, big sympathy turned into a mixture of censure and pure
Is it ‘speculation’ to say the UK has the most deaths in Europe?
It’s a grim news week for the government with Dominic Raab announcing in Tuesday’s press conference that the UK coronavirus death toll is now at 29,427 (ONS figures suggest the number of deaths is as high as 32,313). This means that according to official figures from each country, the UK has overtaken Italy in fatalities and currently has the highest death toll in Europe. However, at the press conference, Raab suggested such a conclusion was ‘speculation’ and warned against early international comparisons on the grounds that there are differences in the way various countries’ record coronavirus deaths and excess deaths with the size of the population also needing to be taken into account: I don’t think
The tragic case of Damian Holland
Damian Holland, the former district Crown prosecutor for Luton and Bedfordshire, died in his bed at home in Chorley, Lancashire of Covid-19, just over a week ago. He was 56. His sister, Caroline Heaton, brother, Gregory Holland, and cousin, Chris Hughes, told me about the events leading up to his death. They believe he was let down by the NHS he revered, and in particular the NHS 111 gateway service to hospital. The story they tell of Damian’s final two weeks is upsetting and troubling. This is what happened: On 14 April, Damian went into isolation, having displayed Covid-19 symptoms, along with his partner Shirley Harwood, who works at a
Why Neil Ferguson’s position was untenable
16 min listen
The leading epidemiologist from Imperial College London, who has been influential in the government’s decision to impose a lockdown, has resigned. The Telegraph broke the story on Tuesday evening that Neil Ferguson had been visited at least twice by his lover. On the podcast, Cindy Yu discusses with James Forsyth and Katy Balls whether he had to go.
Do antibodies deliver immunity to coronavirus?
Assume an alert flashes on your NHSX Covid-19 tracking app that you’ve been in contact with someone who has the virus. This means that you and those you live with are supposed to self-quarantine for 14 days (not seven). Now if you have symptoms, you would be allowed to have a test to ascertain whether you do in fact have the virus. But you would not be allowed a test if you don’t have the symptoms; you just have to sit at home and see if you develop symptoms. So if you are unlucky enough to constantly be bumping into people with symptoms, you could find yourself in a new
Tuesday
Is the UK really the worst hit country in Europe?
11 min listen
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?
Boris needs to start treating Brits like adults again
It turns out that the biggest problem associated with lockdown hasn’t been the ‘covidiots’ – that tiny minority of people who ignored social distancing measures – but the ‘hunker in the bunker’ brigade who, after six weeks of house arrest, can barely envisage ever returning to normal life. Opinion polling shows the UK has one of the most risk averse populations in the world when it comes to the notion of restrictions being lifted. Nearly three quarters of us say we will be ‘very nervous’ about leaving home when limitations on our movement are removed, according to Ipsos Mori. Another poll, from YouGov, found that 28 per cent of us
Monday
The perverse world of immunity passports
Usually, if a government is reported to be working on a new policy reliant on sweeping new – largely untested – surveillance technology, we’re in the world of sci-fi or dystopias. At a minimum, we would expect the rollout of state surveillance to be the central issue at play, the focus of debate and objections, at the heart of a major national conversation. It says a lot, then, that even for many of us concerned about civil liberties, that when it comes to so-called ‘immunity passports’ these concerns – though serious – are largely secondary. That’s how significant an issue such a document could become. The moment that possession of
