Politics

Politicians are excellent at winning elections. But it’s no secret that often the resulting governments are terrible at getting things done. The failure of Western governments to roll out mass testing before the coronavirus exploded into a global pandemic proves this. So do numerous other shortcomings that can help prevent this global pandemic from becoming a globally devastating event. Countries like South Korea have shown that comprehensive testing, tracing and identification – following World Health Organisation guidelines – along with extensive community cooperation, can not just ‘flatten’ but stop the curve of rising cases and fatalities. But these governments have shown an extraordinary capacity to rapidly mobilise multiple sectors of

The silence is striking, not yet deafening. Some of the royals have engaged with the one issue that preoccupies us all. Prince William, in a video message, has launched an appeal (in collaboration with the National Emergencies Trust) to raise funds for local charities responding to the impact of coronavirus. And Harry and Meghan, via Instagram, have announced an initiative to help people cope with the mental stress caused by the pandemic. According to one report, one of the ways the couple are keeping well during their self-imposed isolation in Canada, is by asking their staff to wear latex gloves. Their contributions to our global fixation with Covid-19 makes the

For those wondering how coronavirus will affect the Brexit negotiations, one immediate issue has arisen today: Michel Barnier has contracted the disease. The EU’s chief negotiator revealed the diagnosis on social media this morning, and said that ‘I am doing well and in good spirits. I am following all the necessary instructions, as is my team.’ So far, the UK and EU have continued with the Brexit negotiations, even as the virus spreads across the continent. But now that the EU’s chief negotiator and team are presumably in quarantine, the chances of a deal being reached by the end of the year are looking increasingly slim.  In the meantime, Mr S wishes

Boris Johnson used his daily coronavirus press conference to respond to the economic emergency the country is increasingly finding itself in. Accompanied by his Chancellor Rishi Sunak and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, the Prime Minister said that he was aware the virus would severely impact the economy and that the government was focussed on mitigating this. In light of this, Johnson said: ‘We must act as a wartime government and do anything it takes it takes to support our economy’. In a bid to do just this, Sunak unveiled an economic package of business loans worth over £330 billion. Following on from the Budget, the Chancellor described today’s announcement as ‘the next

There was widespread anxiety and concern that the Government was basing its measures to suppress spread of coronavirus on an assumption that the numbers infected were doubling every five days, when the evidence here and internationally suggested a doubling rate of nearer four days. I raised this concern with Neil Ferguson, the Imperial College expert whose forecasting has underpinned the Government’s accelerated moves to constrain our freedom of movement. He told me: ‘I misspoke when I said five days.’ His baseline for the spread rate (R0) is that each sufferer would infect 2.4 people on average (technically: R0 = 2.4) which implies that the numbers infected would double every 4.3