All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Everyone is entitled to complain about Donald Trump’s behaviour after the presidential election. No one should be surprised. He is acting entirely in character. It was always certain that he would become the worst loser in history. In comparison, Ted Heath, the incredible sulk, seems almost gracious. But there is one respect in which the
We’re closing 2020 by republishing our ten most-read articles of the year. Here’s No. 10: Paulina Neuding on a Swedish crime wave. ‘We have an obvious problem,’ admitted the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven recently. He was referring not to the Covid pandemic, but to a summer of crime that has left even jaded Swedes reeling
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Speaking alongside Patrick Vallance and Grant Shapps, Boris Johnson said we could expect ‘a very, very different world for this country from Easter onwards’. But will the new Covid strain derail the easing of restrictions? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth.
The new mutant strain of Covid-19 is concerning and is likely to make the next few months particularly difficult. But here’s the good news: its emergence doesn’t necessarily mean that the government’s previous optimism about a spring return to normal is off the cards During this Covid-19 outbreak, a common mistake has been to adopt a binary outlook: things are either
The Brexit and Covid crises have merged into one. As of today, 21 December, France has blocked trucks from crossing the Channel as fears about a new strain of Covid — ‘the Kent virus’ to coin a phrase — sweep the continent. Perishable food was rotting, approach roads were jammed… it was as if we
The Port of Dover has been closed, with freight as well as passengers unable to cross the Channel, due to the new strain of Covid concentrated in London and the South East. So how long before supermarket shelves are empty? A lot depends on the behaviour of British consumers. As has been proved on a
The port of Dover has been closed down. The Eurotunnel isn’t carrying any freight for a couple of days. The lorries are already starting to back up in Kent, the supermarkets are working out where they can get fresh supplies from, and flights have been suspended, with the British likely to find they are turned
Ten thousand lorries usually travel through the port of Dover in the run-up to Christmas. Now, Dover is completely shut. Over the weekend, this crucial supply chain into Britain has stopped. In the coming days, as Brits stock up ahead of Christmas, there is likely to be some pressure on UK supply chains. And as
It seems like a lifetime ago when the Imperial College academic Neil Ferguson was caught breaking lockdown rules to meet his married lover. Since then, a whole series of mad, bad and downright nonsense regulations have come and gone. At the time though, the breach was taken very seriously by both the government and Ferguson
‘What’s going on in Swale?’, asked a health journalist who I often speak to. This was back in November. I responded that I didn’t know where Swale is, let alone what its problem was, although I guessed it was most likely something to do with Covid-19. But now, we’re all looking at places like Swale —
The verdict of the Twitter jury is in, articulated in a single, now viral tweet by broadcaster Matthew Stadlen: ‘Keir Starmer would have been – and would be – a far better Prime Minister than Boris Johnson during this pandemic.’ It is a theme that Starmer has naturally been keen to develop, leading him to
No school subject lends itself more readily to political manipulation and propaganda than history. This is especially the case in Scotland, where the purpose of history education has changed beyond recognition since the SNP came to power. The subject is no longer about encouraging critical enquiry and dispassionate analysis; it is there to guide the
We are back in a full-scale economic crisis. In London and the south east, the richest part of the UK and engine of the economy, normal commerce has been suspended by the imposition of Tier 4. And the decision of much of the EU and a growing number of rich countries to put the whole UK
More than 30 countries – including Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Thailand – will not allow travellers arriving from the UK to enter after a new variant of coronavirus was detected. Here are the measures countries around the world have imposed on Brits: France: The country halted all arrivals from the UK from midnight last
This country faces a crisis over the next few weeks. Covid cases are rising rapidly in the UK — there were more than 35,000 new cases yesterday, the largest number recorded during the pandemic and almost double the number a week ago. It seems likely that this rapid rise is, in part, a result of
The Home Office’s report into the characteristics of group-based child sexual exploitation was keenly awaited by victims of grooming gangs. Sadly, for many of these people, it has left them disappointed. When Sajid Javid commissioned the review he promised there would be ‘no no-go areas of inquiry’. His successor as Home Secretary, Priti Patel, says in the report itself
As is perhaps inevitable when advance notice is given of a stable door shutting, the response of many in London last night was to head for the railway stations and get out of town whilst they could. The reaction to this has been condemnation. The Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the scenes at stations as
The Health Secretary joined Andrew Marr the day after Boris Johnson outlined a new fourth tier of restrictions. Tier 4 is designed to clamp down on a new mutation of the coronavirus that has been surging across the south east of England, and the news has wrought havoc on many families’ Christmas plans. Hancock told
As 16.4 million people wake up to the first day of Tier 4 restrictions, many are asking for how long the draconian measures will be in place. While the restrictions will be reviewed at the end of the month, the Health Secretary said they could be in place for much longer than a few weeks. Speaking on
How certain should we be of the government’s claim that the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 is 70 per cent more transmissible than the previous common strain falls apart? I ask not because I have any information that would contradict the Prime Minister, but because it has become a repetitive feature of this crisis: that the piece
‘I’m an Englishman born and bred, almost.’ So says Karim Amir, protagonist of Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia. If Karim, and by proxy Kureishi, is a funny sort of Englishman – ‘born and bred’ but not quite – then so was John le Carré, albeit in a slightly different way. Le Carré, or to
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Christmas has been cancelled, after all. In London and parts of the South East, new Tier 4 restrictions mean that households will not be able to mix indoors; whereas in the rest of the country families can only get together on Christmas day. Does this government suffer from consistently over-promising? Katy Balls talks to James
It was only a few days ago that Boris Johnson stood in the Commons chamber and accused Sir Keir Starmer of wanting to ‘cancel Christmas’ as he defended the government’s plan to relax restrictions over the festive period. However, that plan has now changed. Following rumours in the press that London could be placed under Tier
What do we know about the new Covid strain? Like all viruses, Sars-CoV-2 changes. Like a manuscript that is being endlessly copied, letter by letter, it accumulates typos – changes in its genetic code. Compared with other viruses, this one changes at quite a slow rate. But we have seen a new version of the virus’s
Boris Johnson is to hold a press conference a 4 p.m. today with the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser where it is expected he will announce further restrictions to try to deal with the spiralling infection rate in London and the South East of England. The Prime Minister is chairing a cabinet call
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This week Liz Truss promised to shake up the equalities brief, opting for ‘facts not fashion’ in the fight against inequality that looks at regions and class, not just gender and race. What can we learn about the government’s future direction from this speech? Cindy Yu talks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.
Why are Brexiteers rubbish at making the economic case for Brexit? On a whole range of things from three pin plugs to driving on the left, the UK is so often the odd man out in Europe. So why shouldn’t Britain be better off making its own laws and regulations, instead of making do, as
There is a Saudi Arabian film that I love. It is called Wadjda and is about a young girl who longs to have her own bike, so that she can play outside and ride wherever and with whomsoever she likes. Yet Riyadh’s restrictive patriarchy frowns upon women having agency over their means of transport, even
As a Scot, I found the news that my country had registered, by some distance, the most drug-related deaths in Europe last year profoundly depressing. But my sprits sank even lower when I saw the reaction. Rather than provoking a genuine debate about how to tackle this crisis, the dismal statistics merely set off yet
Yesterday the equalities minister, Liz Truss, gave a speech in which she attempted to lay-out a new direction for the British government. The speech (which can be read here) rejected the identity-group politicking of the radical left which has dominated ‘equalities’ discussions in recent years. It tried to describe not just how wrong this has
Andy Wightman is — or, as of this afternoon, was — the most independent-minded Green member of the Scottish parliament. A staunch man of the left and pursuer of land reform and tenants’ rights, he nonetheless practises an increasingly old-fashioned respect for opposing views and those who hold them. One of the subjects on which
Big news in Sweden this afternoon where Stefan Löfven, the Prime Minister, has just tightened Covid-19 restrictions. Still no lockdown, but there’s now a rule of four for restaurants (it had previously been six) and an 8pm curfew on sale of alcohol in bars and restaurants (it had been 10pm). A cap is to be