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Simon Clarke

We could be understating the ‘Kent’ Covid strain

‘Our estimate which is that the risk of death increases by 30 per cent is itself uncertain. We think it could be anywhere between 10 per cent and 50 per cent according to our analyses,’ said Dr Nick Davies, the author of one of the studies referenced in Friday’s Downing Street press conference, during an interview on Radio 4. Between listening to the press conference last night and Dr Nick Davies, you could be forgiven for thinking that this latest development is all rather tentative and possibly merely a quirk of statistics that is - as yet - no cause for alarm. The controversial way the figures were presented; briefed to The Sun first, then announced at a press conference with the actual study released only later - may give the impression of a government spin operation design.

We could be understating the ‘Kent’ Covid strain
Simon Clarke

We could be understating the ‘Kent’ Covid strain

‘Our estimate which is that the risk of death increases by 30 per cent is itself uncertain. We think it could be anywhere between 10 per cent and 50 per cent according to our analyses,’ said Dr Nick Davies, the author of one of the studies referenced in Friday’s Downing Street press conference, during an interview on Radio 4. Between listening to the press conference last night and Dr Nick Davies, you could be forgiven for thinking that this latest development is all rather tentative and possibly merely a quirk of statistics that is - as yet - no cause for alarm. The controversial way the figures were presented; briefed to The Sun first, then announced at a press conference with the actual study released only later - may give the impression of a government spin operation design.

We could be understating the ‘Kent’ Covid strain
Simon Clarke

We could be understating the ‘Kent’ Covid strain

‘Our estimate which is that the risk of death increases by 30 per cent is itself uncertain. We think it could be anywhere between 10 per cent and 50 per cent according to our analyses,’ said Dr Nick Davies, the author of one of the studies referenced in Friday’s Downing Street press conference, during an interview on Radio 4. Between listening to the press conference last night and Dr Nick Davies, you could be forgiven for thinking that this latest development is all rather tentative and possibly merely a quirk of statistics that is - as yet - no cause for alarm. The controversial way the figures were presented; briefed to The Sun first, then announced at a press conference with the actual study released only later - may give the impression of a government spin operation design.

We could be understating the ‘Kent’ Covid strain
Philip Thomas

Why Imperial College’s REACT study is so problematic

There was very gloomy news this week. ‘Coronavirus infections are not falling in England, latest REACT findings show,’ said a press release from Imperial College. It was widely covered in the press in this vein: Covid levels ‘may even have risen’ since the latest lockdown, BBC news reported. This reignited fears that further tighter lockdown measures might be needed to contain it. It was all a result of Imperial College's latest REACT study of Covid-19 infections, a massive study of 143,000 people and one of the biggest Covid surveys around.

Why Imperial College’s REACT study is so problematic
Dr Jade McGlynn

Russians are daring to dream of life after Putin

Alexei Navalny, Russia’s leading opposition figure, demonstrated unfathomable courage in returning home after the Kremlin had poisoned him with Novichok. Arrested on arrival, Navalny is now holed up in Moscow’s notorious Sailor’s Silence transit prison. Yet as he languishes behind bars, Navalny poses his greatest threat yet to Vladimir Putin’s regime. And today, on the streets of Russia, things could come to a head in the fight between Navalny and Putin.

Russians are daring to dream of life after Putin
Andy Shaw

Word of the week: Sceptic

From Spectator Life

Definition: A person who questions the beliefs of others Lord Sumption, is a sceptic. The former Supreme Court judge has questioned the government’s lockdown policies and raised uncomfortable questions: ‘are we punishing too many for the greater good?’; ‘is the life of my grandchildren worth more than my own, because they have much more of it ahead?’ These are moral questions about the value that we place on each life, as well as the price that we are prepared to pay to prevent death.

Word of the week: Sceptic
Sarah Ditum

The banality of Matt Haig

It doesn't seem like a bad time to be Matt Haig. He’s written multiple bestselling books, including the reputation-making memoir Reasons to Stay Alive about his own experience of severe depression. His latest, The Midnight Library, is proving impossible for everyone but Richard Osman and JK Rowling to knock out of the bestseller charts. There’s a movie adaptation of one of his novels on the way. And we now know that his high-profile admirers run all the way to royalty (well, ex-royalty): Meghan and Harry chose him as one of the guests for their holiday edition of their podcast 'Archewell', to offer 'inspiration, perspective, and reflection' for these difficult Covid times. On the podcast, Haig talks affectingly about his own struggles with depression.

The banality of Matt Haig

Yesterday

22 Jan 2021
Fraser Nelson
Fraser Nelson

Job vacancy: social media manager

The Spectator’s subscriptions are growing at the fastest rate in our 193-year history. Once, the way people discovered new publications was to browse in a shop. Now, the smartphone lets millions see our headlines – and, if they like them, read our articles. If they become hooked, they subscribe. We generate about a fifth of our traffic through social media and with subscribers having doubled to almost 100,000 we think it’s time to find someone to manage our social media full time. The job won’t mean writing headlines (or sells): that will be done by our team of journalists. We’re looking for someone to work out what should be promoted, how, when and where. Collating and understanding analytics. And understanding how to do things in our style.

Job vacancy: social media manager
Theo Davies-Lewis

Why the Welsh Tory leader has to go

For a party that is so obsessed with bursting the ‘Cardiff Bay Bubble’, the Welsh Conservatives certainly enjoy the Senedd’s tearoom. This week reports emerged that Tory members of the Senedd, including party leader Paul Davies, drank alcohol on Welsh parliament premises, days after a ban on serving it in pubs took effect. A Senedd commission report confirmed today there was a ‘possible’ breach of rules and referred the incident to Cardiff city council and the standards commissioner.

Thursday

21 Jan 2021
Isabel Hardman
Isabel Hardman

When will Boris come clean to Tory MPs about the length of lockdown?

This evening's Downing Street coronavirus press briefing showed that ministers are still focused on enforcement of existing restrictions, rather than introducing even tighter curbs. Home Secretary Priti Patel announced £800 fines for people attending house parties, which will double for each repeat offence, up to a maximum of £6,400. Patel said the police would target the 'small minority that refuse to do the right thing', and warned that the police were increasingly enforcing the rules.  Speaking alongside her, NHS England regional medical director for London Dir Vin Diwakar issued a moral warning to members of the public who think it is acceptable to flout the rules. He said:  'Breaking the rules is like switching on a light in the middle of a blackout in the Blitz.

When will Boris come clean to Tory MPs about the length of lockdown?
Ross Clark
Ross Clark

Are infections rising?

Not for the first time, people could be excused for feeling a bit confused by conflicting data on Covid-19. This morning, many news outlets reported claims from the latest React study that levels of Covid-19 infections are no longer falling and may, in fact, be rising. This is somewhat at odds with government data that shows cases have peaked since the beginning of the third English lockdown. For days, the figure for new infections, as detected by NHS Test and Trace, and published on the government’s Covid-19 dashboard, have been falling.

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