Politics

The appointment of Simon Case to the role of No. 10’s new permanent secretary last month is already creating an interesting new power dynamic in Boris Johnson’s top team. Dominic Cummings, Downing Street’s resident grenade-thrower, is now working with someone more adept at defusing bombs. Case, a Barbour-wearing career civil servant, was poached from Kensington Palace, where he was Prince William’s right-hand man, by cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill. In his new role, Case sees anything Covid-related that crosses the Prime Minister’s desk. He is being hailed as the man to rescue the government’s erratic handling of the coronavirus crisis. His experience with the dysfunctional royal household will stand him

The most striking thing about the lockdown easing that Boris Johnson just announced is how limited it is. Single parents and those who live alone will be able to form a support bubble with one other household; churches and other places of worship will re-open for individual prayer, and zoos will be able to admit people to their outdoor facilities. Listening to Boris Johnson, on the day that Professor Ferguson claimed an earlier lockdown would have halved the death toll, it’s clear that the UK is going to come out of lockdown very slowly. Johnson talked about how the government has ‘to proceed with caution’ and warned that ‘this epidemic

Priti Patel was in the Commons today, to be asked about the policing of the recent Black Lives Matter protests across the country. And, it was an understatement to say that the Home Secretary was taking no prisoners when it came to accusations from Labour that she or the government did not understand racism in this country. In response to Labour MP Florence Eshalomi – who asked whether the government and the Home Secretary recognised that there is racism and discrimination in the UK – Patel gave a remarkable speech in which she declared that she would ‘not take lectures’ from Labour about racism, and accused those who expect ethnic minorities to behave

Professor John Edmunds, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who has been advising the government throughout the Covid crisis, spoke to Andrew Marr this morning. Edmunds told Marr that, with the UK’s official death toll having now passed 40,000, the UK should have locked down faster in retrospect: AM: [Do] you have some regrets about some of your advice, about what you thought at the time? JE: Yes. We should have gone into lockdown earlier. I think it would have been hard to do it… but I wish we had… I think that has cost a lot of lives unfortunately. Matt Hancock – We made

The protest in Manchester today was supposed to be static and socially distanced. While that may not have worked out so well – leaving me somewhat yearning for Israeli efficiency as seen in the protests against Netanyahu – it was still a success. The vast majority were wearing facemasks and those who quite clearly wanted to distance were respected. The protest was peaceful (as far as I could tell). Police kept a respectful distance and protesters continued their respectful behaviour. For that reason, it might not get much coverage: you’re more likely to read about those who deface monuments or confront the police. But to focus on them, now, is to